New Delhi: New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine’s 111 off 112 deliveries went in vain as her side went down against defending champions Australia in their first match of the women’s ODI World Cup on Wednesday. After her dismissal, the team suffered a batting collapse of the lower order and lost the high-scoring clash by 89 runs.

It was the Australian side which stole the show with extraordinary all-round performance with Ashleigh Gardner (115) emerging as the highest scorer as the Aussie women scored a massive 326 runs in 49.3 overs. Apart from Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, and Kim Garth made valuable contributions with the bat to help the side cross the 300-run mark.

Litchfield and Perry scored 45 and 33 runs respectively while Garth scored quick 38 runs towards the end to hel

See Full Page