White Ferns vs Pakistan: Amy Satterthwaite Goes Back To Back (3-0)
There's gonna be an almighty break down of Amy Satterthwaite's greatness coming your way after this series.
Aotearoa's White Ferns have sealed a series win over Pakistan after the second and third ODI's over the course of the weekend. Remember though that the third, fourth and fifth ODI's count towards the ICC Women's Championship so it's less about what the Ferns did in the first two games as they set up a series win, but more so what the Ferns do in the last three fixtures that matters most.
This was evident in Haidee Tiffin's selections as 16-year-old Amelia Kerr was given a run in the second game, but wasn't selected for the third. Sophie Devine and Rachel Priest came into the side for the second ODI, joined by spinner Morna Nielsen and Lea Tahuhu for the third ODI.
Tiffin basically selected her strongest team for the third ODI with the selection of Hannah Rowe/Thamsyn Newton over Holly Huddleston and the inclusion of Liz Perry being the only talking points here; Suzie Bates, Rachel Priest, Amy Satterthwaite, Katey Martin, Sophie Devine, Liz Perry, Sam Curtis, Thamsyn Newton, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu, Morna Nielsen.
In all honesty though, it doesn't really matter who is selected because the Ferns have a certain Amy Satterthwaite and after doing the most runs/best bowler double over in South Africa, Satterthwaite hit back to back centuries. Satterthwaite came in at No.3 in the second ODI and hit 137* off 117 balls to help steer the Ferns to 309 and Pakistan then had to chase a rain-adjusted total of 203 in 34.2 overs with the Ferns restricting them to 142 from the 34.2 overs.
Satterthwaite then went bonkers again with 115* off 101 balls, which along with 74 from skipper Suzie Bates and 50* from Katey Martin, helped the Ferns chase down 264 in just 44.2 overs. Martin has been Satterthwaite's buddy in these two ODI's as she hit that 50* in the third ODI after hitting 65 in the second, both half-centuries came in a support role to Satterthwaite's assault.
Notable bowling performances came from the OG's of the team with Bates taking 2/21 @ 4.20rpo in the second ODI and Satterthwaite picking up 2/65 @ 6.50rpo. The other intriguing bowler has been Thamsyn Newton as she picked up 1/14 @ 2.33rpo in the second game and 1/57 @ 5.7rpo in the third after being left out of the team for the first ODI. Keep in mind that Newton is just 21yrs and now has seven ODI's to her name.
The Ferns are now a step closer to sealing a top-four finish in the ICC Women's Championship, which will result in automatic qualification to next year's World Cup. Given how this series has panned out thus far, we can probably bank on the Ferns finishing 3rd.