To say Australia Women hold themselves to high standards is something of an understatement.
They have retained the Rose Bowl after defeating New Zealand by 71-runs in the second ODI at Mount Maunganui, they added a 23rd consecutive ODI win to their world record winning streak and they have won the past two T20 World Cups and Ashes series.
And yet, a bare space in the trophy cabinet is causing an irritating itch they are dying to scratch; the 50 over World Cup, currently held by England but up for grabs in New Zealand next year.
“Obviously here's a lot of water to go under the bridge,” said Rachael Haynes, speaking after her player of the match performance.
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“It's still twelve months away but we've spoken about it pretty openly as a team, to miss out on playing in the final in England a few years ago I guess it was a bit of a line in the sand moment for our group in getting some clarity on how we wanted to play cricket and I think we've done a good job of bringing that to life.”
“The team and individuals push each other to make sure that we're always performing and that intensity, that desire is there and, even to look at our bench and see some of the players who were sitting off at the moment.
"I think it would be I guess a little bit disrespectful not to take the opportunity that you have. I definitely think the motivation is still there. Our team wants to continue winning every game that we play, we want to win for Australia, so today was no different.”
Haynes’ 82-run opening partnership with Alyssa Healy laid a solid platform for Australia’s eventual total of 7/271, Haynes going on to anchor the innings with score 87 off 105 balls after Healy was caught at long off coming down the ground to attack Leigh Kasperek.
The openers’ contrasting styles were true to form; Healy aggressively pulling her first two deliveries for four, Haynes cautiously feeling her way to six off 25 before accelerating.
Healy, who became just the third Australian woman to appear in 200 international matches across all formats, was showered with hugs by her teammates following a pre-match acknowledgement of the milestone.
“It’s a pretty phenomenal achievement,” said Haynes.
“And I know when people think of ‘Midge’ at the moment and how she plays and how dominant she's been, they sort of think that she's always probably had it easy and she has such a natural flair.
"But, you know, being someone who's played alongside her for a long time, I remember early days she was up and down the batting order, just trying to find a place in the team. so over the last couple of years it's been really cool to see her take her game to a whole other level. She’s one of the most exciting, flamboyant players and natural stroke player to watch.”
Haynes sees this tour as a valuable fact-finding mission ahead of next year’s World Cup and gleaned valuable information from the second ODI, played on the same pitch as the first match.
While Healy scored 44 and Lanning 49, the rest of the batters fell after making starts, Kasperek’s off spin accounting for all but one of Australia’s seven wickets and netting her figures of 6/46 off ten overs. Spin was also key for Australia, with Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham taking five wickets between them.
“I think traditionally, having played in New Zealand before, we expect the wickets to be a bit slower,” said Haynes.
“But probably the thing that stands out or stood out this tour from my point of view is [that the ball is] just holding a fraction. So you've got to make sure that you get to the pitch of the ball and those sorts of things otherwise you do end up just ballooning it in front of the wicket. I think we've seen that is the case across both teams. If you're not quite there, a lot of catches are getting skewed to point or sort of just going straight up in the air.”
The same pitch will also be used in the final ODI on Saturday. Australia are aiming for a clean series sweep and, in a perfect demonstration of those high standards, Haynes believes there is still room for improvement.
“I think our bowling group has done a really good job and gel together really well,” said Haynes. “But perhaps we haven't quite seen a polished performance from our batting line up yet. Hopefully in game three we can bring that to life.”
