Gardner seals series win after Kerr puts Australia in a spin

Ashleigh Gardner made a successful return from a concussion scare to claim three wickets and help Australia claim an untidy and unconvincing series win over New Zealand after a stunning collapse with the bat in the second T20I in Mackay.

Australia lost 7 for 28 to be bowled out for 142 having won the toss and elected to bat. New Zealand legspinner Amelia Kerr put the world champions in a spin, claiming a career-best 4 for 20 as the home side relinquished a commanding position that had been set up by captain Alyssa Healy to be bowled out for just the second time in their last 55 T20Is.

Healy made 38 off 25, which was the standout innings of the match on a surface that batters found difficult despite it looking like it would offer plenty of runs. Ellyse Perry compiled a scratchy 34 from 33 that would prove important but her dismissal to a bizarre run-out started Australia's slide.

New Zealand's chase began cautiously and they paid the price as Australia's bowlers squeezed. Suzie Bates made another start, scoring a run-a-ball 34, but could not kick on after guiding her side to 34 without loss in the powerplay. Gardner and Annabel Sutherland went to work taking 4 for 34 between them off eight overs in the middle and death phases to close out the game despite some shoddy fielding from Australia.

On a surface where only five batters managed to strike at a rate of above 120, Healy stood head and shoulders above the pack. Molly Penfold had been the biggest threat in the first T20I and Healy took her out of the game in the first over. She thumped her down the ground on the up and then unfurled a stunning front-foot pull shot over midwicket off the next ball as Australia took 12 from the first over. She then carved Lea Tahuhu over point before lap-sweeping Eden Carson fine.

She saved her best for Kerr, reverse-sweeping her from middle stump through cover point as Australia reached 48 for 1 in the powerplay. But while Healy was running hot, Perry was ice-cold. After the early loss off Beth Mooney - playing her 100th T20I - bowled by Fran Jonas trying to pull, Perry struggled for timing. She faced eight dot balls in her first 16 and was 13 off 18 at one point. She struggled to even feed Healy the strike. Healy fell trying to keep the foot down against Carson, holing out for 38 from 25. But it would prove an invaluable contribution.

Just as Perry started to find some rhythm, her dismissal started Australia's downfall and was emblematic of what was to follow. She tried to sweep Kerr and was hit on the pad. The ball bounced off her pad high above her head. Perry was confused as to where it had gone and oddly took off for a run. By the time she realised it had landed behind her, wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze had whipped off the bails to run her out for 34 off 33. Shortly after, Australia suffered a cataclysmic collapse, the likes of which has never happened to this all-conquering team.

They were bowled out inside 20 overs for just the second time since the T20 World Cup 2020. It started with Phoebe Litchfield charging at Brooke Halliday's wrong-footed medium pacers and losing her leg stump. Then Kerr whirled her way through the order. Two superb wrong'uns undid Gardner and Tahlia McGrath through the gate. Sophie Molineux was beaten in flight and stumped by a mile before Megan Schutt was done all ends up by a quicker delivery. Kerr finished with 4 for 20 from four overs. Australia looked vulnerable defending just 143.

Early wickets are always the desired way to put pressure on when defending a small total. The next best thing is to apply run-rate pressure. And that's exactly what Australia did in the powerplay. They did not concede a boundary in the first four overs with Bates and Georgia Plimmer struggling for rhythm. Bates finally broke free against Schutt and Darcie Brown, finding the rope three times. But New Zealand only managed to score 34 runs in the powerplay despite not losing a wicket. When Plimmer dragged an attempted sweep onto her stumps off Georgia Wareham, the required rate had climbed above eight per over. It soon went over nine when Gardner got her revenge on Kerr, pinning her lbw with a subtle change of pace when she tried to sweep. Litchfield then clung onto an athletic catch at cover to remove the well-set Bates for a run-a-ball 34.

Sophie Devine fell two overs later for a tortured 4 off 10 balls, which included being dropped by Brown at short third. Australia were able to close the game out from there despite more untidy fielding. New Zealand's equation reached 54 off 18 before Maddy Green and Gaze briefly threatened to pull off a miracle. But that was only possible because of some sloppy fielding. Schutt dropped a sitter off Green at cover-point and then watched three of the next five balls reach the rope. Green then should have been run-out by Gardner attempting to steal a second but Healy fumbled the throw, which was a little wider than it could have been. But Sutherland held her nerve in the deep at long-on off Gardner to finally end Green's rearguard.