New Zealand Women vs Australia Women, New Zealand vs Australia 2021, Today Match Prediction 01 Apr 2021

nzw vs ausw Match Prediction & Analysis

New Zealand Women registered a thrilling 4-wicket win off the last ball in the 2nd T20I against Australia Women to level the 3-match series 1-1. In a low-scoring game, the pendulum kept shifting throughout and went to the final over of the match. New Zealand managed to eke out a victory in the final moments and would now be looking to carry forward that momentum to the decider. Australia Women would be ruing the fact that they didn’t go hard enough while batting first and that’s where they lost the match. However, the world champions won’t be too deterred and would look to correct their mistakes.

TEAMS PREVIEW

New Zealand Women Preview

After losing the first match of the series, New Zealand Women produced a much-improved performance in the second game. After opting to bowl first, their bowlers responded well and didn’t allow the Australian batters to get away. Off-spinner Frances Mackay was the pick of the lot with figures of 2-20 in 4 overs. She opened the bowling for New Zealand and kept the Australian batters on a tight leash. Rosemary Mair, Jess Kerr, and Amelia Kerr also utilized the slowness of the pitch well to deliver economic spells.

A target of 130 didn’t look like much of an issue initially. However, the New Zealand batting unit struggled to get going and almost botched up the chase. It was mainly due to Frances Mackay’s 46 off 39 balls at the top and Amelia Kerr’s composed 36 off 33 balls that helped the Kiwis reach the target. Maddy Green’s unbeaten 8-ball 16 lower down the order was also crucial. However, the team would be looking for some solid contributions from the likes of Hayley Jensen and captain Amy Satterthwaite in the next match.
 

New Zealand Women Predicted Playing XI:

Frances Mackay, Hayley Jensen, Amy Satterthwaite (c), Amelia Kerr, Katey Martin (wk), Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hannah Rowe, Thamsyn Newton, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair

New Zealand Women Actual Playing XI:

Jess Kerr, Amy Satterthwaite, Brooke Halliday, Hannah Rowe, Hayley Jensen, Rosemary Mair, Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr, Thamsyn Newton, Lauren Down, Katey Martin

Australia Women Preview

Australia Women will be disappointed with their performance in the 2nd T20I. After being asked to bat first, they paced their innings too slowly which eventually cost them the game. The highest scorer for the team was Beth Mooney who led the innings with a solid unbeaten 61 off 54 balls. However, Meg Lanning (27 off 25 balls) and Rachael Haynes (29 off 25 balls) were a tad slow in their approach. Which is surprising given the batting depth Australia have. They still had Ashleigh Gardner and Ellyse Perry down the order but they didn’t get enough balls to make an impact. 

Australia’s bowling was good as expected and their bowlers almost pulled off a thrilling win for the team. Megan Schutt (2-24) and Darcie Brown (1-26) were impressive at the start and Georgia Wareham’s leg-spin again proved to be effective. In the next match, this potent bowling unit would be hoping to get a few more runs to defend. 
 

Australia Women Predicted Playing XI:

Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Nicola Carey, Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

Australia Women Actual Playing XI:

Meg Lanning, Georgia Wareham, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen, Ellyse Perry, Tayla Vlaeminck, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Nicola Carey, Rachael Haynes

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The pitch at Eden Park, Auckland, has generally been great for batting. It will be interesting to see if there’s any change on the surface but the batters should have a great time for the most part. Seamers are likely to go for runs unless they slow things up. Spinners might get some purchase once the pitch becomes a little softer.

A couple of morning showers are expected in Auckland on the day of the game. However, the weather should be sunny and partly cloudy for the most part.
 

Venue Details

Eden Park in Auckland has seen some massive totals being achieved in T20Is over the years. The highest team total on this venue is Australia’s 245-5 in 18.5 overs while chasing a target of 244 against New Zealand in 2018. This shows that no total can be safe at times here. There have been 7 totals in excess of 200 scored at Eden Park in T20Is and in this game, the team batting first should look to target a total of around 180-190.

Toss: To Bat

The team winning the toss might look to bat first as this is a high-scoring venue and a setting a huge target might be the way to go.