Meg Lanning of Australia celebrates victory and her century. Photo / Getty
Meg Lanning of Australia celebrates victory and her century. Photo / Getty
The Rose Bowl will not be spending time in New Zealand quarantine.
Australia have ensured the trophy will stay put, fending off a much tougher challenge from the White Ferns in the second ODI of the three-match cricket series, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead.
After being rolled for 180 in the opener, the White Ferns put up a fight this afternoon in Brisbane, compiling 252-9, only to see Australia chase it down with four wickets and 29 balls to spare.
It takes something remarkable to beat this Australian team — winners of 20 consecutive ODIs, just one shy of the all-time world record set in 2003 by their male counterparts.
The Ferns, who haven't won the Rose Bowl since 1999, have now lost eight ODIs on the trot — though five of them have been to Australia, and today's effort showed they're still a formidable side.
"A really courageous effort, we just didn't have enough runs on the board against a really strong Australian side," said Ferns skipper Sophie Devine.
Against most teams, the White Ferns' performance would have been worthy of victory. The contributions of Devine (79 from 115 balls) and Amy Satterthwaite (69 from 73) were complemented by quickfire knocks from Katey Martin (26 from 14) and Maddy Green (21 from 13) to reach a solid total, albeit one which could have been better, with the visitors losing five wickets in nine balls as they mustered just seven runs from the final two overs.
Sophie Devine top scored for the White Ferns but was disappointed at her dismissal. Photo / Getty
Yet, when Alyssa Healy clobbered Lea Tahuhu for 14 runs from the first over of Australia's reply, the message had been sent — you have to do a lot better than "solid" to win in Australia.
While Devine removed the dangerous Healy, Australia had already rattled off 37 runs in six overs, and when Tahuhu left the field in tears after straining her back, the White Ferns' bowling depth couldn't make significant inroads into a superb Australian top order.
Rachel Haynes (82 from 89) and Meg Lanning (101 not out from 96) added 117 for the second wicket, to leave the White Ferns requiring a miraculous turnaround.
They got halfway there. Haynes threw away her wicket to a Devine full toss and Amelia Kerr trapped Beth Mooney in front, and six overs later, two wickets in two balls gave the visitors hope as some Kerr magic removed Sophie Molineux (stumped for 14) and Ash Gardner (caught behind for a golden duck).
However, all throughout, Lanning was still there, and the world's best batswoman navigated the end of Kerr's 10-over spell, before dispatching the other White Ferns bowlers with ease.
Sitting on 97 and needing just two runs to win, the Australian skipper brought up her 14th ODI century, and sixth against New Zealand, carving Hayley Jensen away behind point for four to seal the Rose Bowl, and move her team within a win of a world record winning streak.
They can equal that record in the third and final ODI on Wednesday afternoon, and with the Rose Bowl remaining safely stowed away in Australia, the chance to play spoiler is all that is left for the White Ferns.
