Saturday night saw Aotearoa give Pakistan a good ol' touch up, repeating the dose they served up to West Indies a few days earlier. These are clinical wins against a couple of the World Cup's weakest teams so we can't get too far ahead of ourselves, although the nature of the contributions is providing fantastic examples of what this White Ferns team is capable.

The Ferns dismissed Pakistan for 144 in 46.5 overs and then Sophie Devine hopped on the same bus to boom-town that Rachel Priest was on, smacking 93 off 41 balls via 7 fours and 9 (!!) sixes. Devine finished with a strike-rate of 226.82 and made Amy Satterthwaite's 38* off 42 (90.47sr) look rather tame as Aotearoa showed off a luxury that not too many other teams at this World Cup have with Satterthwaite moving up to open, pushing Suzie Bates down the order and Devine taking Satterthwaite's No.3 spot. 

Bates and Satterthwaite are the top-dawgs, they are two of the very best batswomen in the world. This White Ferns batting line up is so much more than Bates and Satterthwaite, which has been evident in the last two games as Priest chipped in with a 90 against West Indies in which she had a strike-rate of 163.63 and now Devine, Sophie Devine:

In just four games, the runs have been shared throughout the Ferns batting line up with five of their top-six hitting at least a half-century. Katey Martin is the only batswoman who hasn't put up big runs, her last two innings (of three) have finished with her not-out though and while Bates, Satterthwaite, Devine and Priest sit in the top-25 run-scorers, Katie Perkins is only outside the top-50 run-scorers because she's only batted once in this World Cup and hit 52 in that one innings. 

Coach Haidee Tiffen ensured that Satterthwaite was promoted to open, Devine was moved up to No.3 and Martin came in before Bates (No.4) and this followed on from a slight re-shuffle in the bowling attack. Holly Huddleston dropped out to make way for Hannah Rowe and guess who did the most damage with the ball? 20-year-old Hannah Rowe, who took 3/22 @ 2.44rpo.

Remember that the injection of Leigh Kasperek had immediate impact and Kasperek took 2/35 @ 3.5rpo here, with Amelia Kerr (2.7rpo) and Lea Tahuhu (3.5rpo) also doublin' up on wickets. Tiffen brought Kasperek in for the West Indies game and Kasperek responded in kind, now Rowe has slotted straight in against Pakistan and while the Kasperek/Kerr spin-combo appears set in stone; Rowe vs Huddleston for that seamer spot is a funky narrative to watch out for.

Huddleston took a 5-for in the opening game which has bolstered her numbers and just as the batting line up is enjoying widespread contributions, four kiwi bowlers (Huddleston, Tahuhu, Kerr and Kasperek) are rollin' around with averages under 20. Tahuhu leads the kiwi wicket-takers and is ranked 7th for the World Cup; it's important to remember that Tahuhu and Kerr have played all four games, with Kasperek's numbers helped by her two games coming in crushing wins against weak teams.

And that sets us up for Wednesday's game against England. Aotearoa will need a win against either England or India (Saturday) to seal their top-four spot as they sit level with South Africa on points, ahead thanks to their supreme net run-rate. Aotearoa are the only team with a +2 NRR and this is low key thanks to the power of Priest and Devine, giving the kiwis a crucial advantage after they had to share points in a rained off game against South Africa.

Sitting in 1st, England offer a far greater challenge than West Indies and Pakistan. So we can kinda erase the memories of Kasperek, Devine and Priest's dominance as we can't expect the same level of dominance against England. There has been a move towards really sussin' out the best team, the best combinations. The batting line up has enjoyed ample opportunities out in the middle, Kasperek's come in to support Kerr, leaving Tiffen to make a tough decision between Huddleston and Rowe. 

The White Ferns have smoked teams they should smoke, now it's time to see what they are capable of against the host nation. In such games, most of the responsibility falls straight back on the shoulders of Bates and Satterthwaite. The kiwis are well equipped to offer a lot more though and moving into the climax of the World Cup, the supporting acts need to play their role to perfection.

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