ODI run-machines set to square off

Two one-day international run machines will go head to head when Australia and New Zealand meet in the second Rose Bowl ODI at Mt Maunganui’s Bay Oval in Thursday.

The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars are set to welcome back Ellyse Perry after the star allrounder missed the T20I series and the opening ODI due to a hamstring injury, in very welcome news for Australia who need to win the final two matches to keep their 17-year hold on the coveted trans-Tasman trophy.

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Meanwhile, White Ferns allrounder Amy Satterthwaite will be aiming to go where no player has gone before after equalling Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara’s record of four consecutive one-day centuries in the opening match in Auckland.

Her match-winning 101no against Australia at Eden Park continued a golden run that started in November last year, when she scored an unbeaten 137 against Pakistan in Lincoln, followed by knocks of 115no and 123 against the same opposition.

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While Perry, 26, has yet to post an ODI century, her numbers since being elevated into Australia’s top five during Australia’s 2013 Ashes campaign are also outrageous.

She is averaging 92.53 with the bat since her promotion up the order and has scored 17 half-centuries in her last 24 one-day innings.

That includes her current run of five consecutive ODI fifties, which started with a half-century in Australia’s final one-dayer in Sri Lanka last September and continued with fifties in all four of the ODIs she played on home soil against South Africa last November, which included unbeaten knocks of 93 and 95.

On Thursday, she’ll have the chance to equal her own record for most fifties in a row in women’s ODIs, having scored six half-centuries between January 2014 and July 2015.

Despite not having played since January 20, when she injured her hamstring batting for the Sydney Sixers, Perry is confident of continuing her form with the bat against a New Zealand bowling line-up that’s in red-hot form and full of confidence after three consecutive wins over the Southern Stars.

“It’s been a long time since I played in a lot of ways, but I’m confident with the rehabilitation done and the preparation I’ve been able to do since injuring myself and getting back on tour with the girls,” Perry said.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow and seeing how it goes.

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“They’re coming off (the bat) OK but you never know until you get out in the middle.

“New Zealand have been playing great cricket and have given us some big challenges over the last couple of matches and they have an in-form bowling attack, so it’ll be tough but fun if I play tomorrow.”

Perry is also well aware her skills with the ball will play a crucial role as Australia search for a way to stop Satterthwaite scoring a fifth consecutive century.

“It’s a good challenge for us," she added. “For someone like Amy to play the innings she did (in Auckland) speaks volumes about her experience at this level of cricket.

“It’s highlighted a couple of things we need to work on.”

The second ODI will kick off at Mt Maunganui’s Bay Oval at 11am local time on Thursday (9am AEDT) ahead of the third and final match at the same venue on Sunday, March 5.