New Zealand 354 for 3 (Halliday 157*, Green 67, Gaze 59*, McLeod 35, Marange 1-52) beat Zimbabwe 174 (Ndhlovu 52, Mugeri-Tiripano 38, Amelia Kerr 4-35, Jess Kerr 3-28) by 180 runs
McLeod began her innings with a four in the second over, while Amelia was also quick off the blocks. McLeod struck Adel Zimunu for three straight fours in the sixth over but Amelia fell in the next over, removed by Christabel Chatonzwa. McLeod looked set for a taller score but her innings was cut short by Precious Marange.
Halliday and Green quickly quashed any chances of a Zimbabwe comeback. Halliday began her innings with a four and never looked back. Both batters found the boundaries regularly with Green reaching her half-century off 65 balls. Soon after, Halliday reached her fifty off 45 balls with eight fours as the score swelled.
New Zealand breached the 200-run mark in the 34th over but lost Green soon after to a run out. That didn’t, however, curb the run-flow; if anything, it rather amplified it with Gaze and Halliday adding an unbroken 151-run stand for the fourth wicket off just 97 balls.
Gaze smashed Beloved Biza for four fours in the 42nd over and it didn’t take Halliday long to reach her maiden ODI century, getting there in 93 balls. She went into overdrive after reaching the landmark, smashing Zimunu for a four and six and then striking Chatonzwa for four fours in the 46th over.
Halliday took just 21 balls to move from 100 to 150 while Gaze raised her half-century off 39 balls. New Zealand amassed 117 runs in the last ten overs, racking up 354 for 3, the highest score against Zimbabwe in an ODI.
Zimbabwe were never really in the chase, though they gave the target a shot. Modester Mupachikwa started her innings with two fours against Bree Illing and while she fell to Jess Kerr early, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano and Kelis Ndhlovu kept things ticking along with a 93-run second-wicket stand off 150 balls.
Ndhlovu reached her second ODI fifty off 108 balls but fell the very next ball and the Zimbabwe innings unravelled quickly after that. From 142 for 2 in the 36th over, Zimbabwe slipped to 159 for 7 in the 43rd with Amelia doing much of the damage. She ran through the middle order picking up 4 for 35 before Jess wrapped up the tail, picking up two in two as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 174 in 47.3 overs.
