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'Terribly disappointed' says gutted Sophie Devine after Cape Town humiliation


image-le0zlehdSophie Devine (PC: Twitter)

Australia's Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner set the tone for their T20 World Cup title defense by crushing the New Zealand Women by 97 runs in their first match at Boland Park in Paarl on Saturday, February 11th.

Australia posted a mammoth total of 173 run for 9 wickets after being sent to bat first at Boland Park in Paarl. The opener Alyssa Healy led the batting chart with 55 runs, followed by 41 runs from captain Meg Lanning and 40 runs from Ellyse Perry.

Later, Ashleigh Gardner's best bowling figure of 5/12 propelled Australia to a resounding win, with New Zealand being dismissed for 76 runs in just 14 overs. This was New Zealand's lowest score ever recorded in a World Cup match and ranked third among the lowest scores in T20s.

During the post-match conference, New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine spoke about their disappointing performance against the reigning World Champions, stating that the team played poorly throughout the match. 

She praised Lea Tahuhu for her good performance with the ball and Amelia Kerr for her all-round effort.

"I think we played pretty poorly throughout the entire game. Australia batted exceptionally well, in my opinion. Lea Tahuhu was excellent with the ball, in my opinion. Amelia Kerr was exceptional. However, chasing down 170 was always going to be difficult, and losing early wickets the way we approached it made it even more challenging. But the only way to put it is that we're terribly disappointed."

Up next, New Zealand will face South Africa in their second T20 World Cup match at Boland Park in Paarl. The team will aim to bounce back and put on a better performance in this game.