Aussies sweep series despite fast-finishing Kiwis

Australia have held off a fast-finishing New Zealand to seal a T20I sweep with a tense eight-run win in the series finale in Wellington.

Early strikes had left the White Ferns teetering at 4-54 chasing Australia’s 4-180, but a 99-run stand between Amelia Kerr (66 from 47) and Maddy Green (62 from 35) threatened to snatch victory for the hosts at Sky Stadium.

New Zealand needed 37 runs from the final three overs when a piece of fielding brilliance from Georgia Wareham caught Green short of her crease, and Annabel Sutherland’s triple-wicket 19th over secured a nervy victory and a 3-0 series sweep.

Earlier, Australia opener Georgia Voll rode her luck on her way to 75 from 57 deliveries, dropped on six occasions as she laid the foundation for Australia’s 4-180.

The win means Australia have completed a 2024-25 season that saw them win 22 of 23 completed matches – although notably, the sole blemish was their shock semi-final defeat to South Africa at the T20 World Cup last October.

A lengthy off-season break now beckons, with Australia’s next assignment a three-game ODI series in India prior to the 2025 ODI World Cup in the same county.

Sent in by New Zealand on Wednesday, Voll cleared the boundary from the second ball she faced in a clear sign of intent, and her efforts were aided by a sloppy New Zealand outfit in the field.

The Australian opener was put down on six, 13, 48, 62, 63 and 65, allowing her to post her second half-century of the series.

After she was finally dismissed on 75, bowled by Suzie Bates, Voll joked on broadcast, "I think I am going to head to the Lotto store".

Luck aside, her innings on Wednesday continued the 21-year-old’s outstanding summer filling in for the injured Alyssa Healy; from 10 international innings across all formats, Voll already has a century and two fifties and has clearly marked herself as the Australian captain’s eventual successor at the top of the order.

At the other end, the in-form Beth Mooney looked equally ominous following scores of 75no and 70 in the first two games of the series.

She found the boundary three times before being caught at deep square leg off the bowling of Sophie Devine, leaving her 25 runs shy of passing Meg Lanning for Australia’s all-time leading run scorer in T20Is – a milestone she will now need to wait until 2026 to reach, given Australia will not play another T20I this year.

Phoebe Litchfield chipped in with a 16-ball 26, while Ellyse Perry (32no from 19) and Tahlia McGrath (14no from 5) combined to give Australia a late boost, smacking 26 runs from the final two overs, including five boundaries, to guide their team to 4-180.

Such was Australia’s batting dominance across the three matches, where they chased 138 in 13.3 overs in the opening game before amassing 3-204 batting first in the second, that Grace Harris was not called upon to face a ball across the three games.

McGrath’s only hit came in the final game, while the absence of injured star allrounder Ashleigh Gardner did not hamper the Australian batting efforts.

The White Ferns needed someone to go big to reel in the hefty target, after falling well short with the bat in the opening two matches where they posted 2-137 and 122 all out.

But they were quickly on the back foot as Megan Schutt (2-42) removed openers Bates (7) and Plimmer (4), becoming the first woman to take 150 international wickets in the format in the process.

When Wareham had Devine caught in the deep for one from nine deliveries, New Zealand were 4-54 and the required rate had crept to 11.

The in-form Amelia Kerr had played a lone hand in the second T20I, but on Wednesday she found a partner in Green, as the pair rebuilt the White Ferns’ innings.

Kerr’s half-century came from 36 balls, and while Green made a circumspect start, she exploded with sixes off McGrath and Annabel Sutherland (4-35), then back-to-back maximums off Schutt in the 16th over to leave the White Ferns needing 50 runs from the last four overs.

Green’s fifth six, a superb drive back over the head of Georgia Wareham, brought up a half-century from 29 deliveries.

With 38 required from the final three overs, the pressure was building on the Australians and it showed through several missed chances in the field.

It took a brilliant direct hit from Georgia Wareham from the deep to end Green’s innings on 62, with the New Zealand No.6 caught just short attempting a second run as the game tilted back in Australia’s favour.

The aggressive Jess Kerr joined her sister in the middle with 26 needed from the final two overs, but another piece of Wareham brilliance – this time hanging onto a low chance on the boundary – sent her on her way for one, and Polly Inglis holed out next ball.

There was no hat-trick for Sutherland, but when she had Amelia Kerr caught on the boundary for 66 – again, by Wareham – from the final ball of the 19th, her triple strike left the hosts eight down, needing 20 off the last – a task too large for their tailenders.

CommBank T20I tour of New Zealand

Australia T20 squad: Tahlia McGrath (c), Nicole Faltum, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Charli Knott, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

New Zealand T20 squad: Suzie Bates (c), Eden Carson, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Georgia Plimmer, Lea Tahuhu

First T20 | Australia won by eight wickets

Second T20 | Australia won by 82 runs

Third T20 | Australia won by eight runs

All games start at 12.45pm AEDT, 2.45pm NZDT and will be broadcast live on Foxtel and Kayo Sports