Australia Women vs New Zealand Women, ICCW T20 WC 2023, Today Match Prediction 11 February 2023

ausw vs nzw Match Prediction & Analysis

Australia Women and New Zealand Women will be resuming their famed rivalry as the two teams face off in the 3rd match of the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup at Boland Park. Meg Lanning's Australia will target a hat-trick of T20 World Cups in South Africa. They are in red-hot form and will be the team to beat. New Zealand Women have been playing some impressive T20 cricket too and won’t go down without a fight.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Australia Women Preview

Australia Women couldn’t have asked for better form as they prepare to defend their T20 World Cup title third time in a row. They first beat India Women 4-1 in an away series in December 2022 and followed it up by a 2-0 sweep of Pakistan Women at home in January this year.

The world champions have an experienced squad teeming with plenty of variety both with the bat and ball. Beth Mooney is their main batter to watch out for. The stylish opener has 418 runs in her last 10 matches at an average of 69.66 and a strike rate of 142.66. Tahlia McGrath (288 runs in the last 10 matches at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 128.57) will hold the middle order together.

The experienced Alyssa Healy smashed 62* off 40 balls in the warm-up match against Ireland Women, which is good news for the team. Australia can also bank on captain Meg Lanning and all-rounder Ellyse Perry should the others fail.

Australia’s bowling will largely revolve around Megan Schutt (12 wickets in the last 9 matches at an economy of 7.69) and Ashleigh Gardner (11 wickets in the last 10 matches at an economy of 6.30). Medium-pacer Heather Graham, who was in great form during Australia’s tour of India, taking 7 wickets in just 3 games at 7.77, should enjoy bowling on these surfaces.

Australia Women Predicted Playing XI:

Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Grace Harris, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt

Australia Women Actual Playing XI:

Meg Lanning, Grace Harris, Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Jess Jonassen, Darcie Brown, Alana King, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy

New Zealand Women Preview

New Zealand Women are on a hot streak of T20I victories. After a comprehensive 4-1 series win on their tour to the West Indies late last year, they blanked out Bangladesh Women 3-0 at home, including a massive 132-run win in the first T20I.

Beating tournament favorites Australia will set up the White Ferns well. The Kiwis will rely on captain Sophie Devine (285 runs in her last 10 matches at an average of 31.66 and a strike rate of 110.46) and Amelia Kerr (280 runs in her last 10 matches at an average of 46.66 and a strike rate of 114.75) to do the bulk of the scoring for them. The 22-year-old Kerr is also adept with the ball and expect her to bowl a few overs of her leg-breaks in the middle.

Another Kiwi batter to keep an eye out for is Suzie Bates. The experienced all-rounder has been terrific touch recently, scoring 293 runs in 5 innings at an average of 73.25 and a strike rate of 128.50 for Otago Women in the Women's Super Smash 2022/23. This includes an unbeaten knock of 101 off 67 balls against Northern Districts Women.

New Zealand’s bowling attack will be led by their star pacer Lea Tahuhu who has 64 wickets in 70 T20Is at an economy of 5.96. She will need from the likes of medium pacer Hayley Jensen (13 wickets in the last 8 matches at an economy of 6.03) and left-arm spinner Fran Jonas (12 wickets in the last 10 matches at an economy of 3.83).

New Zealand Women Predicted Playing XI:

Sophie Devine (c), Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Maddy Green, Lauren Down, Hayley Jensen, Bernadine Bezuidenhout (wk), Lea Tahuhu, Jess Kerr, Fran Jonas

New Zealand Women Actual Playing XI:

Jess Kerr, Hannah Rowe, Hayley Jensen, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Lea Tahuhu, Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Sophie Devine, Fran Jonas

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

Boland Park in Paarl is a batting-friendly pitch, which does assist the seam bowlers. Batters can’t just hit through the line and need to spend some time on the wicket to get used to its pace. However, the relatively shorter boundaries and a fast outfield mean that once batters get their eye in, there will be plenty of runs to make.

The weather in Paarl during the match will be hot but clear.

Venue Details

There have only been three women’s T20Is played at Boland Park - two have been won by the team batting first and one by the side chasing. The average score batting first here is 112. The highest total posted at the venue is 147-7 by England Women against South Africa Women in 2016. The team batting first in this match should look to set a target of around 150-160 runs.

Toss: To Bat

This will be the first match of the 2023 World Cup for both the teams. Therefore, it’s likely that both will prefer to bat first after winning the toss as the wicket is likely to be fresh and hard.