Debriefing Amy Satterthwaite's White Ferns Dominance
You'd be forgiven for losing count of how many world-class players the White Ferns have.
Since I really started following the White Ferns closely last year, it was Suzie Bates' crazy feats with bat and ball - as well as being skipper - that had me in awe. Bates opens the batting for the Ferns and had a habit of scoring runs for run, while also capable of bowling her full 10 overs when she felt as though she was required. In a sign of just how talented this White Ferns team is though, Bates has been somewhat overshadowed by another veteran all-rounder in Amy Satterthwaite.
After scoring the most runs through seven ODI's in South Africa, while also finishing up as the best bowler, Satterthwaite went bonkers in five ODI's against Pakistan. The White Ferns swept Pakistan 5-0 and sealed qualification for the Women's World Cup next year by finishing third in the ICC Women's Championship, thanks largely due to three centuries from Satterthwaite.
Satterthwaite hit 137* in the second game, followed by 115* in the third and then 123 in the final ODI with no other batswoman hitting a century. Bates did manage a typically brilliant series with three half-centuries in four games which saw her finish second in run-scoring for the Pakistan series on 236 runs, over 100 runs less than Satterthwaite's 393 runs. This saw Satterthwaite average 196.50, with a strike-rate of 118.73 and she also finished tied-second for wickets with 6 wickets, while young seamer Thamsyn Newton led the wicket-takers with 7 wickets.
Two series' in a row Satterthwaite has finished with the most runs and in both series she has been the best bowler and not too far off the best bowler. As an all-rounder, Satterthwaite exists in rare-air as she averages over 30 with the bat (36) and under 30 with the ball (26.37) in ODI cricket, taking her two ODI centuries up to five in the process.
As the ICC Women's Championship comes to a close, Satterthwaite sits in sixth for run-scoring. We need to keep in mind that the last three games from the Pakistan series for example, counted towards the Women's Championship and not all the games. This means that not all of Satterthwaite's exceptional work counts here, she still has an impressive average of 50.86 with the bat, scoring 763 runs in 19 innings.
With 16 wickets, Satterthwaite didn't feature at the top of the wicket-taker rankings for the Women's Championship. That doesn't quite do Satterthwaite justice though as she averaged 21.18 with the ball in the 12 innings in which she bowled, once again reaffirming Satterthwaite's emphatic all-round contribution. The best White Ferns bowling from the Women's Championship ... well the leading wicket-taker was Lea Tahuhu with 19 wickets but her average of 32.05 was put in the shade by Erin Bermingham's average of 18 and with Bermingham taking 18 wickets, I'm rocking with her as the best bowler.
Skipper Bates also deserves another mention here as she finished third in run-scoring (978 runs) with an average of 54.33 and while her 16 wickets doesn't have her among the top wicket-takers, she averaged 28.62 with the ball. Both Bates and Satterthwaite averaged over 50 with the bat and under 30 with the ball in the Women's Championship.
The kiwi Women's One-Day competition is now under way and I'll touch base with the first round of action in the coming days (next round is Saturday, December 3). As you'd expect, Satterthwaite continued with her fine form, taking 2 wickets in each of the first two games and hitting 81 in Canterbury's win over Wellington; 21, 2/17, 2/23, 81.