Hosts New Zealand were no match for Australia as their neighbours ran riot and secured a victory by a gigantic margin of 141 runs.
There were signs of an impending predicament when Australia were wobbling at 56/3 with their top three batters back in the hut after 15 overs. However, the record world champions have never been short of firepower when it comes to the batting department.
Perry, an all-time great who hasn’t had much to do in an opening couple of matches, formed a wonderful partnership with Tahila McGrath, who was recently crowned as the ‘Player of the Series’ in the Women’s Ashes to rescue Australia from a looming disaster. They stitched a 101-run partnership for the fifth wicket to push the title contenders to a competitive total.
Ashleigh Gardner, returning for the first time since her COVID-enforced absence, wreaked havoc in the final few overs and remained unbeaten on 48 from 18. The Aussies finished with a total of 269/8.
NZ haven’t managed to defeat Australia in a Women’s ODI in five years and 12 attempts. Therefore, the run-chase was always going to be difficult to begin with.
Things went from bad to tragic when the hosts lost half of their batting order inside 12 overs and with only 35 runs on the board. 19-year-old quick bowler Darcie Brown plucked two wickets of New Zealand’s big three and conceded only 22 runs in a wonderful seven-over spell which brewed trouble for the White Ferns.
Perry drew first blood by dismissing New Zealand captain Sophie Devine inside the first five overs, thus triggering an inexplicable collapse. Another four wickets were lost inside the space of 13 runs and almost seven overs.
Only Amy Satterthwaite seemed to offer some resistance and managed to score 44 runs off 67 deliveries with her innings, including five boundaries. She was one of only four batters who managed to get into double figures and only the second one to cross the 20-run mark besides Lea Tahuhu.
A jaw-dropping annihilation of New Zealand helped Australia win their third match on the bounce, and they have leapfrogged India to climb to the top of the table and have the best net run rate of +1.626.
ICC Women’s World Cup table
| # | Team | Matches played | Victories | Losses | Points | NRR |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | +1.626 |
| 2 | India | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | +1.333 |
| 3 | South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | +0.38 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -0.257 |
| 5 | West Indies | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -0.967 |
| 6 | England | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -0.19 |
| 7 | Bangladesh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -0.932 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.274 |
