Sthalekar guides Australia to smooth success

Australia 3 for 133 (Sthalekar 45*) beat New Zealand 132 (Tsukigawa 31) by 7 wickets
Scorecard

Lisa Sthalekar steered the closing stages of Australia's chase © Getty Images

Australia took a 1-0 lead in the Rose Bowl series with a convincing seven-wicket win over New Zealand in Darwin. After a tight success in the Twenty20 on Thursday, Australia showed their muscle by dismissing their opponents for 132 after the visitors won the toss and batted.

The move backfired immediately as they lost two wickets in the first six overs and were 5 for 44 before a recovery started through Nicola Browne and Sarah Tsukigawa. The pair put on 61 for the sixth wicket before Browne went for 30 when she was stumped off Shelley Nitschke, who was one of four bowlers to take two wickets. When Tsukigawa fell for 31 the end was near and New Zealand were allout in the 47th over.

Australia started cautiously and were in danger of making the chase difficult when Karen Rolton (11) and Shelley Nitschke (27) both departed on 57, but Lisa Sthalekar and Kate Blackwell combined to ensure the victory. Sthalekar finished with an unbeaten 45 while Blackwell was patient in her 15 not out from 56 balls.