New Zealand v Australia: first women's T20 international – live!

10th over: NZ 53-2 (Satterthwaite 12, Kerr 6) Amelia Kerr wants a piece of Carey! Tries the lap shot first of all and misses, while it doesn’t clear her bails by much. Sinks down on one knee to try clearing cover, but only makes enough contact to get a single. Last ball of the over Kerr advances and hits hard and straight, really well struck but it gets saved by long on running around. Kerr hustles back for two runs.

9th over: NZ 49-2 (Satterthwaite 11, Kerr 3) Sixth bowler in nine overs, and Ellyse Perry has yet to be handed the ball. So many options in this Australian team, and the likes of Annabel Sutherland isn’t even here. Tahlia McGrath and Sophie Molineux not playing, both all-round talents. Amelia Kerr sweeps her opposing leg-spinner for a single, skips down to flick another run after Satterthwaite gives her the strike back. Three from the over, Australia keeping them quiet.

8th over: NZ 46-2 (Satterthwaite 10, Kerr 1) Nicola Carey on to bowl, as Lanning keeps ringing the chances. She’s short of stature, medium pace, gets some swing, uses her lack of height to skid the ball through. Can be hard to get away, certainly hard to get under, and the batting pair can only manage three singles as show bowls straight.

7th over: NZ 43-2 (Satterthwaite 9, Kerr 0) Ash Gardner with her off-spin, and Satterthwaite uses her feet early and confidently. Gets down the wicket twice, aided by a full toss the second time, and hits one boundary over mid off, the next over wide mid on.

6th over: NZ 35-2 (Satterthwaite 1, Kerr 0) End of a double-wicket over. Over her career Jonassen averages a wicket every four overs against New Zealand in ODI cricket, and every four and a half overs in T20 cricket. Useful.

One opener follows the other. I’m all for inventive thinking in cricket, but anyone who has watched her bat knows that Hayley Jensen is not an opener. That’s a horrible shot. A short ball that really she could hit to a range of spots. Jensen is in three minds. Leaning onto the front foot, then trying to shift onto the back foot, she gets stuck in between. Ends up playing the ball with one foot off the ground. It’s outside the line of her body, and yet she’s trying to heave to the leg side. It’s a horrible mix, and it only sends the ball 10 metres straight up in the air, for the wicketkeeper to trot around and catch.

The biggest wicket falls early! Devine gets one boundary away off Jonassen, skipping down to hit the spinner down the ground. But she tries to go again in the same over, a slog-sweep this time. There are only two boundary riders outside the circle, and this shot goes directly to Ash Gardner, who in this team has a mortgage on the spot at deep midwicket.

5th over: NZ 28-0 (Devine 13, Jensen 12) Schutt nearly gets Jensen caught at mid off! Jonassen tracking back dives but can’t get hands to it. Jensen trying the big muscled shot but slices it. Lucky that she gets just enough bat on it.

4th over: NZ 26-0 (Devine 12, Jensen 11) Jess Jonassen on early with her left-arm spin. Great record against New Zealand. Devine tries to take her on a couple of times, over the off side and the leg side, but only gets a brace and a single.

3rd over: NZ 21-0 (Devine 8, Jensen 10) Here’s the flipside of pace: Vlaeminck loses her radar in the second half of her second over. Oversteps while bowling the fourth ball and concedes a no-ball. Gets away with the free hit, because Devine steps away to give herself room, anticipating a bouncer, but instead gets a high fast full toss at her body. Just low enough to be a legal delivery, and Devine can only edge it into the ground to the keeper. Then Vlaeminck errs leg side for a couple of wides, way outside off stump for a cut shot to the boundary from Jensen, then leg side again for a glance to the fine-leg rope. No runs from her first over, 12 from her second.

2nd over: NZ 9-0 (Devine 8, Jensen 1) Megan Schutt will be the new-ball partner, her inswinging style from over the wicket, right arm. She pins down Jensen for three balls, then draws an outside edge that falls short of backward point. But Jensen pinches a single, and that gives Devine a chance. She’s played a lot of cricket with Megan Schutt at the Adelaide Strikers in the WBBL, and takes her on, first ball. Smacks it over mid on for four, with the field up. Streaky stroke, across the line, but the next one isn’t. Schutt overpitches, and Devine hits dead straight over the bowler for four.

1st over: NZ 0-0 (Devine 0, Jensen 0) It will be Tayla Vlaeminck to start for Australia, a new-ish young pace bowler who was the quickest in the world before a foot injury that cost her a spot in last year’s T20 World Cup. This is her first match back in national colours in over a year. And she’s lost no pace with the layoff! Starts at 119 kph, and soon works her way up to 122 and 123 as she launches at Sophie Devine. Most seam bowlers in the women’s game operate more between 100 and 115. Vlaeminck stays back of a length and straight or outside off stump. Beats a couple of cross-batted shots from Devine, and has her ducking a ball at the body that doesn’t get up too high in the end, but Devine gets under it. A scoreless over to start!

New Zealand
Hayley Jensen
Sophie Devine *
Amy Satterthwaite
Amelia Kerr
Katey Martin +
Maddy Green
Brooke Halliday
Frances Mackay
Hannah Rowe
Jess Kerr
Rosemary Mair

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

“Just to settle into a tour, I guess,” says Meg Lanning of the choice to put the pressure on her bowlers first. Teams generally prefer to chase in 20-over cricket. The Aussies spent two weeks in quarantine but they’ve been out for a few days and had time to get moving again. Sophie Devine for New Zealand says “We’re not too disappointed to have a bat first, it looks like a good surface here at Hamilton.”