Australia Women vs New Zealand Women, 2nd Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

So that's all from this one. We have Pakistan taking on Bangladesh tomorrow in Colombo. Do join us for it. Until then, this is Sagar Chawla signing off on behalf of Vinod Kumar and MS Ramakrishnan. Goodbye!

India were 124/6 while batting first yesterday, and Australia were 128/5 today. Both of them went on to recover in grand style to post a formidable total which was beyond the reach of the opposition. It's a testament to the depth they have and why they're two of the favourites in this tournament. Australia had Ash Gardner bail them out with a brilliant counterattacking hundred. Even Kim Garth, coming in at number 9, struck 38 off 37 balls. It's a luxury that allows the top and middle order batters to play with complete freedom. On the other hand, New Zealand dedicated a lot of their innings trying to recover from the early dismissals of their two openers and had to bat conservatively for long periods.

Biggest defeat margin for NZ-W in ODI WCs
186 vs IND-W, Derby, 2017
141 vs AUS-W, Wellington, 2022
89 vs AUS-W, Indore, 2025*
75 vs AUS-W, Melbourne, 1988

Three wickets in an over in a WODI WC match
Marizanne Kapp (SA-W) vs WI-W, 2017
Marizanne Kapp (SA-W) vs ENG-W, 2017
Inoka Ranaweera (SL-W) vs IND-W, 2025 (yesterday)
Annabel Sutherland (AUS-W) vs NZ-W, 2025 (today)
where BBB data available

This is Australia’s 16th consecutive completed ODI victory against New Zealand. The last time they lost was in February 2017.

This is also the fourth consecutive win for AUS-W against NZ-W in ODI World Cups. The last time NZ-W beat Australia was in 2009.

Most 50-plus stands against AUS-W in a WC match
4 - ENG-W, Hamilton, 2022
3 - NZ-W, Indore, 2025*

Oldest batter to score a hundred in WODI World Cup
39y 48d - Barb Bevege (NZ-W) vs INTXI-W, 1982
38y 161d - Janette Brittin (ENG-W) vs PAK-W, 1997
36y 30d - Sophie Devine (NZ-W vs AUS-W, 2025*

Healy | Australia captain: Batting as well as she did, you never feel comfortable (talking about Devine). Full credit to the girls for hanging in there. Hit our lengths in the end and got the job done. We were struggling through the middle period and still made over 300. Doesn't take much for one of our middle order to make a hundred which is really cool. As a batting group we'll just reflect on some of our dismissals and where we can be more precise to ensure we're pushing totals of 350 on wickets like these. At the end of the day there were no wrong options, but maybe just not as precise as we would like them to be. She's just continuing to mature as a cricketer with both bat and ball (Gardner). Really impressive to watch. We back our depth. Really proud of Ash today, had a great day. Hopefully she can just enjoy this moment. She's super handy with what she's shown with the new ball in the powerplay (Garth). The fact that our lower order can continue making runs for us is handy. It's not exactly like for like but the fact that Soph can come in the powerplay. It's what we've been searching for - powerplay wickets. We didn't get that in the India series. We're looking for ways we can mix that up. Soph was awesome. Her first full game back in over 12 months. Hopefully went through unscathed and she can play a big part in the tournament. Hopefully we can take this momentum into our next game. Might be different conditions in Colombo, will have to adapt on the fly. Beautiful cricket ground to play at actually. Really enjoyed it. Fans are nice and close, really good cricket wicket which is awesome. Will enjoy coming back here and playing two really good sides. It's going to be a tussle but one we're looking forward to.

Devine | NZ captain: It's bittersweet to be fair (how'd she rate the hundred). I'd throw it all away to make sure this team won. Proud of the fight shown. A couple of years away we probably would've thrown in the towel and get skittled for 150. But the fact that we keep coming, keep going and keep backing our strengths is something I'm proud of. Despite the result not going our way, the way we played the game today is something that makes me proud. Midge (Alyssa Healy) has given me stick that I've never scored a hundred against Australia, so should've given a salute to her. You always want to be on the winning team so it's hard to digest that. A long way to go in this World Cup. That just shows the mindset of this group is that we stay in the fight. The way that Midge and Pheebs came at us, we know that's what they can do because they've got a deep batting order. We just had to hold our nerve. We missed a bit on line and length probably and got punished on a flat surface. The fact that we were able to bring it back, Melie was outstanding straight after the powerplay as well as Lea. The way players are able to adapt to the situation and play their role is what's making this team really good at the moment. We probably leaked a few runs at the back end but I still feel that total was chaseable on that wicket. Exciting thing about her is she's tall, swings the ball, has pace (Illing). Helps being a left armer. Nice for me as a captain to chuck her the ball and ask her to let it rip. Everyone knew coming into the tournament that there will be runs on offer. It's about who can hold their nerve for longest and stick at it.

Gardner | Player of the Match: It was really special. When I got into the middle, had some very clear plans. Wanted to score off as many balls as possible. Always knew we needed a big total here. Devine batted brilliantly, made it tough for our bowlers to settle. Going to be a trend in this World Cup to get as many as possible on the board. Just trying to keep my game as simple as possible. I feel when I'm hitting the boundary riders hard, and running hard, that gets me going. Having partnerships with my teammates is pretty crucial. We bat all the way down so we have that freedom and confidence within our group. Love coming in those pressure situations and take the game on.

21:57 Local Time, 16:27 GMT, 21:57 IST: Very comfortable margin of victory in the end for the world champions despite that brilliant hundred from Sophie Devine. Unfortunately for New Zealand, after the dreadful start they had, they were playing catch-up the whole time. Georgia Plimmer was run out without facing a ball, and Suzie Bates was dismissed in the very next over, all without a run on the board. Much of the innings was then dedicated in trying to rebuild and trying to take it as deep as possible. Adding to their troubles were Alana King, Sophie Molineux and Annabel Sutherland who bowled really well and didn't give much away in the middle overs. Even the pitch didn't seem that straightforward with some balls keeping low. And with every over that went without a boundary, the asking rate kept climbing before it eventually got out of hand.

Molineux to Bree Illing, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Review taken by Illing after being given out caught-behind!