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Australia romp to Rose Bowl triumph with 3-0 victory

Australia routed New Zealand 3-0 to lift the Rose Bowl in style and confirm their place as World Cup favourites ahead of New Zealand, the current holders

Cricinfo staff
15-Mar-2005
Australia made a clean sweep of their Rose Bowl series with New Zealand, as they romped to a 3-0 whitewash on Sunday to confirm their place as World Cup favourites ahead of the tournament which starts next week. The drubbing will be a wake-up call to New Zealand, the World Cup holders, as both sides left for South Africa ahead of their first match on Tuesday (March 22).
The favourites for the World Cup, Australia, won the final match on Sunday comfortably, easing home by three wickets with more than four overs remaining in a low-scoring encounter. The match was changed to a day-night fixture at the last minute, after sprinkler problems. New Zealand batted first and recovered from 6 for 31 to post 9 for 114, with Emma Twining taking 4 for 17 from 10. Australia overhauled the total with few difficulties.
The second match of the series, on Saturday, was a closer contest - Australia won by just seven runs - with Haidee Tiffen's career-best of 91 from 127 not enough to save New Zealand.