White Ferns In Africa: South Africa Pinch A Win
Leading wicket-taker H-Huddz
After clinching the series with a 4-1 lead, South Africa came back strong to win the 6th ODI last night as they rolled the White Ferns batting line up in a rain-affected game reduced to 39 overs.
The Ferns were first up to bat, sans Natalie Dodd who was replaced by 24-year-old Maddy Green and the big three of Suzie Bates, Rachel Priest and Amy Satterthwaite were restored at the top of the order. That big three combined for 19 runs however, leaving the Ferns scrambling at 34/3 and the fall of wickets couldn't be stopped by the Ferns with Katey Martin holding the innings together by a string with 65 off 80 balls.
Satterthwaite hit 13, while Holly Huddleston down at No.9 was the only other kiwi batswoman to hit double-figures with 12 off 26 balls. This left the Ferns all out for 130 in 33.3 overs, a total that was always going to be difficult to defend regardless of how strong this Ferns bowling attack is.
SA chased it down in 37.4 overs with 5 wickets in still in the shed, despite a tidy performance from the kiwi bowlers as they kept SA scoring at 3.47rpo. Lea Tahuhu took an early wicket and finished with 1/35 off 8 overs, Erin Bermingham took 1/29 off 8 overs, Holly Huddleston took 2/13 off 7 overs and Amy Satterthwaite chipped in - as she tends to do - with 1/17 off 8 overs.
Huddleston conceded just 1.85rpo and Satterthwaite conceded 2.12rpo, which gave the Ferns a sniff of salvaging victory, however Bates went at 6.21rpo and Tahuhu conceded 4.37rpo which pushed SA towards the win.
Ahead of the final ODI of the series tomorrow, Holly Huddleston leads the wicket-takers list while Amy Satterthwaite leads the run-scorers. Huddleston has 10 wickets from five games at an average of 14.90 and 4rpo, while Satterthwaite is on 9 wickets from six games at an average of 17.55 and 2.92rpo.
Huddleston's had a strong series with the ball, although it would be nice to see Satterthwaite finish as the best bowler and with the most runs from the series. Satterthwaite has 291 runs from six games at an average of 72.75 and a strike-rate of 88.71, meaning it would take a low score from Satterthwaite and just a big ol' innings from Dane van Niekerk or Mignon du Preez to knock Satterthwaite from the top spot.
Satterthwaite would need to take at least a wicket with Huddleston going wicket-less in the final ODI for Satterthwaite to climb to the top of the wicket-takers list. Huddleston's got a much better average thanks to bowling almost 20 less overs than Satterthwaite, so Satterthwaite would probably need to take a couple of wickets to seal top spot with the ball and with the bat.