Australia face T20 world champions New Zealand in unfamiliar role of hunter

The road to redemption is one that the Australia women’s cricket team has rarely had to travel down in recent times. The all-conquering side won all three T20 World Cups and the only Cricket World Cup since 2017 before heading into the shortest format’s global showpiece last year.

That streak was shattered by South Africa’s shock semi-final win over the three-time defending T20 World Cup champions, although the first signs of cracks started to appear after Australia claimed their sixth crown in the format in early 2023. An unusually meagre six victories in 11 T20Is after that final arguably put a dent in Australia’s aura, at least until the side went on an all-too familiar tear with 11 wins on the trot before South Africa’s sudden intervention.

It has been little surprise to see Australia respond to their relatively early exit at the T20 World Cup with a ruthless run of results. Five emphatic victories in ODIs against India and New Zealand were followed by the first Women’s Ashes series sweep as Australia won all seven clashes with arch-rivals England across the three formats.

Australia can take another step toward righting their perceived wrongs when they travel to play three T20Is in New Zealand against the side that turned around a horror 10-match losing streak heading into the T20 World Cup last year to beat South Africa in the final. The role of the hunter is unfamiliar to this Australia team and one they are already plotting how to escape from ahead of a Cricket World Cup this October and the next T20 global tournament just over a year away.

“They’re the world champions and that’s what we want to be,” Tahlia McGrath, Australia’s captain for the three-match series, said. “There is a little bit extra on the line for us. We want to go out there and play some really good cricket and come away with, ideally, a 3-0 series win against the world champs.”

McGrath will take the reins in Alyssa Healy’s absence as the keeper-batter sits out the quick-fire series to continue her recovery from a lingering foot injury that interrupted her Ashes campaign. All-rounder McGrath led Australia to a 3-0 sweep during the T20 leg of the Ashes series, while rising star Georgia Voll is set to take Healy’s place in the batting lineup again just as she did in three white-ball matches and the pink-ball Test against England.

View image in fullscreen Georgia Voll has made a stunning start to her international career with the bat and in the field. Photograph: Sarah Reed/CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

The 21-year-old Voll could hardly have been more impressive in seven internationals since making her debut in an ODI against India last December as Australia continue to find top-end talent to seamlessly replenish their side with. New Zealand will also turn to an emerging batter with Bella James overcoming a quad injury to be in the frame for her first T20 after playing a pair of ODIs against Australia late last year.

The White Ferns welcome back T20 World Cup-winning captain Sophie Devine, star all-rounder Melie Kerr as well as Lea Tahuhu and Georgia Plimmer for the three T20s starting on Friday. Devine has given up the T20 captaincy since lifting the trophy in Dubai and along with Kerr missed the home white-ball series against Sri Lanka to freshen up.

“They’re pretty much back at full strength and have got some world-class players in their side,” McGrath said. “Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates and Melie Kerr can take the game away from any opposition.

“But we’re blessed with talent too and really excited to see what we can do. Georgia is the latest to come in and has had an unbelievable six months. Every time she’s pulled on the Australian shirt, she’s done a job for us, she’s already got an international [ODI] hundred, and she’s on some red-hot form coming from the WPL.”

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The ongoing influx of talent has forced McGrath’s role to change as the likes of Annabel Sutherland, Phoebe Litchfield and Darcie Brown entrench their places in the side. The 29-year-old is now more likely to slot into the lower order of the batting line-up and has not bowled more than a couple of overs, if any, in T20Is over the past 18 months.

Taking a back seat with bat and ball is allowing McGrath to focus more on guiding the side, and especially the handful of younger players, as they work towards the Cricket World Cup in India later this year and T20 World Cup in England next June.

“The style of cricket that we want to play doesn’t change too much between 50-over and T20 cricket,” McGrath says. “We want to take the game on, we want to be aggressive and fearless.

“Any chance we get to practice that style of play, get better, is one that we want to take with every opportunity. We go on a break after this but it’s really important to stay switched on and get a lot out of these there T20s. It would be nice to finish a long season on a high.”

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