Dead rubber goes to New Zealand

New Zealand 6 for 183 (Tiffen 66*) beat Australia 9 for 180 (Bulow 51) by 4 wickets
Scorecard

Haidee Tiffen was responsible for guiding New Zealand to a relatively comfortable consolation win to end the Rose Bowl Series in Darwin. After handing over the trophy to Australia on Saturday, the captain Tiffen made sure of a 3-2 final result with an unbeaten 66 that pushed her side past the hosts' 9 for 180.

Karen Rolton won the toss and Australia started strongly, but once the openers Shelley Nitschke and Melissa Bulow were dismissed the innings fell away. Nitschke was stumped off Sarah Tsukigawa for 47 and Bulow departed with 51 when the team was in good health at 2 for 115.

However, New Zealand struck regularly over the final 20 overs to restrict their opponents to a total they reached with 5.1 overs to spare. Australia had a chance when the visitors were 4 for 75 after Sara McGlashan had retired hurt with an injured knee, but Tiffen received valuable assistance from Nicola Browne, the Player of the Series, and Rachel Priest (39) on the way to a four-wicket win.

Rolton was delighted with Australia's showing throughout the series. "I think all the games were tough and well-contested but I guess our good record against New Zealand helped us come through in close finishes. I think New Zealand played good cricket and it has some exciting young players who should make their names in years to come."

Tiffen, meanwhile, called for more consistency from her team. "It was disappointing to lose the series. We need to be more consistent in all facets of the game. We have come out of our winter and both the Rose Bowl and the England tour will provide us with an opportunity to expose players to international cricket before the World Cup."