LIVE: Bowling blitz leaves New Zealand floundering against Australia

Match Centre and Scorecard

Australia are cruising to a comfortable victory over New Zealand, with Megan Schutt and Annabel Sutherland amongst the wickets.

Schutt removed Melie Kerr (29) to prompt a collapse through the middle overs, with Sutherland missing out on a hat-trick having dismissed Maddy Green (1) and Isabella Gaze (0) in consecutive deliveries to leave New Zealand 60/6 and well off the pace.

New Zealand’s chase of 149 to win suffered an early setback when Schutt wrote herself into the record books, bowling Georgia Plimmer (4) in the third over to become the leading wicket-taker in the history of women’s T20Is.

And the White Ferns looked intent to set a platform early in their effort, reaching 29/1 at the end of the powerplay, with Melie Kerr and Suzie Bates surviving a testing spell against the Australian attack.

But Australia had other ideas, rattling through the Kiwi middle order to leave the chase in tatters.

WATCH: The moment Megan Schutt made history

The target of 149 could have been far higher were it not for Melie Kerr, who hit back to restrict Australia with an inspired individual display in Sharjah, taking 4/26 and holding on to a terrific catch as the defending champions posted 148/8 after winning the toss.

Australia had looked on course for a big total after strong contributions from each of their top three, with Beth Mooney top-scoring with 40 from 32 balls.

But the deep Australia middle order misfired to leave their bowlers with work to do in the second innings.

The story of the first innings

Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first, and they got off to a superb start as Alyssa Healy sparkled in the early overs, peppering the boundary in her 26 (20).

WATCH:Alyssa Healy's strong start against New Zealand

New Zealand picked up the big wicket when Healy skied a catch off Rosemary Mair to bring Ellyse Perry to the crease, but fellow opener Beth Mooney picked up the mantle to build a decent platform for the defending champions.

Australia reached 43/1 at the end of the six-over powerplay and Perry struggled to get going at the start of her innings as the scoring rate briefly slowed.

However, Mooney carried on where she left off in Australia’s win over Sri Lanka, keeping the scoreboard ticking over to give her team’s deep batting line up a large platform to build off in the back end of the innings.

Mooney’s innings came to an end when she mistimed a shot off Melie Kerr, offing a simple catch to Maddie Green, departing for 40 (32).

And New Zealand hit back through the middle overs as an inspired Kerr bowled Perry (30 from 24) and new batter Grace Harris with consecutive balls to reduce the Aussies to 109/4.

WATCH: Melie Kerr takes two in two

Kerr picked up a fourth wicket when she had Georgia Wareham caught for 4 (5), finishing with figures of 4/26, and she was heavily involved in the field too, pulling off an excellent catch in the deep to remove Phoebe Litchfield (18 from 18) off the bowling of Brooke Halliday.

Australia closed on 148/8, leaving New Zealand with a challenging but not insurmountable target in the second innings.

Both teams made a change apiece to their XI for this game, bolstering their spin options, with Fran Jonas replacing Jess Kerr and Grace Harris coming in for Darcie Brown.

The Teams

New Zealand: 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (capt.), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze, 8 Fran Jonas, 9 Rosemary Mair, 10 Lea Tahuhu, 11 Edan Carson

Australia: 1. Beth Mooney, 2 Alyssa Healey (wk)(capt.), 3 Georgia Wareham, 4 Ellyse Perry, 5 Ashleigh Gardner, 6 Phoebe Litchfield, 7 Grace Harris, 8 Tahlia McGrath, 9 Annabel Sutherland, 10 Sophie Molineux, 11 Megan Schutt

The T20 World Cup will see 23 matches held in total over 18 days, with all matches in the two host cities of Dubai and Sharjah.

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