Rose Bowl Cricket Series-Southern Stars suffer back to back losses in New Zealand
New Zealand have taken a 2-1 lead in the Rose Bowl Series after defeating the Southern Stars in the fourth Twenty20 match in Invercargill this afternoon.
The White Ferns, as they did in yesterday's encounter, looked confident with the bat and ball to record a 14 run victory to give them a narrow lead in the Rose Bowl Series.
Post-match, Captain of the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars Alex Blackwell said:
"I thought we controlled the first six overs of the New Zealand's innings well and we were able to pick up some early wickets which was positive," Blackwell said.
Blackwell said although the side was a little disappointed, they just need to sharpen up certain elements of their game for the fifth Twenty20 match tomorrow.
"Hopefully by making a few adjustments in the field and with the lines we bowl, we can restrict the scoring opportunities against us in tomorrow's match," Blackwell said.
The Southern stars had the kiwis on the ropes early as Lisa Sthalekar and Clea Smith picked up the New Zealand openers within the first four overs, courtesy of some nice catching by Blackwell and Sarah Jane Coyte.
Unfortunately these early wickets were the only highlights for the Australians as they struggled to restrain Amy Satterthwaite and Sara McGlashan who continually found the boundary to kick to the New Zealand run rate into gear.
The Australians could do little as the New Zealand duo put on a remarkable 97 run partnership to put the White Ferns in the driver's seat.
Shelley Nitschke finally broke through in the 17th over and Sattherthwaite's fine innings of 45 off 37 balls came to a close.
McGlashan carried on with her crisp hitting from yesterday's match and continually found the gaps until the second last ball of the New Zealand innings where Coyte ripped through the wickets to end the New Zealander's innings on 62 from 50 balls.
As the Kiwis scrambled to finish with as many runs as possible, Rachel Haynes pounced and was able to grab a run out on the last ball, leaving the Australians 148 runs to chase down.
The Southern Stars started a little shaky, losing opener Shelley Nitschke in the third over but young gun Meg Lanning looked composed at the crease to give the Australian's hope in the early stages.
However after contributing 33 from 28 balls, Lanning found herself back in the dugout after White Ferns Captain Aimee Watkins took the much needed wicket.
Lisa Sthalekar carried on where Lanning left off and fired up the Australian innings blasting 32 from 20 deliveries and was assisted by Alex Blackwell who chipped in with 29 to give the visitors some hope.
However, the mounting run rate and loss of Blackwell, Jess Cameron and Alyssa Healy within three overs put a dent in the Australians run chase.
Sthalekar was still at the crease for the final over, where the Australians needed 25 runs but some good bowling by the White Ferns ensured the Southern Stars would fall short in their chase.
Blackwell singled out the impressive efforts of Lisa Sthalekar and Meg Lanning to keep her side in the match:
"It was great to see Lisa Sthalekar hitting the ball well, putting the ball over the fence and showing some really good form. "Meg Lanning also had another good innings and has showed a lot of class for such a young player.
"Tomorrow is another opportunity so we are looking forward to building on the last two matches in the final twenty20 match," Blackwell said.
A full scorecard can be found here: http://livescores.cricket.com.au/scoreboard_2597_4.htmll Follow the team on Twitter: @_SouthernStars http://twitter.com/#!/_SouthernStars
