White Ferns x Women's World Cup: The Faux Quarter Final
Gotta faux quarter final to get through first...
Before England fired up the smoker and put Aotearoa on the rack, the White Ferns knew they had to win one of their remaining two games. They got royally smoked by the Poms and now they take on India, they lost to the team that leads this World Cup having only lost one game and now they must beat the team who sits in the crucial fourth spot. Had Aotearoa beat South Africa, there'd be no worries, yet Mother Nature said 'yeah, nah' and we now get to experience the beauty of World Cup cricket.
Big shout to Amy Satterthwaite on her 100th game. I'll serve up a similar tribute to Satterthwaite as I did for Bates, just give me a few days to work through all this sporting shenanigans and a massive White Ferns game; the longer it takes, the better it is.
A quarter final when there's no quarter finals and you can bet India are preppin' for their big moment as well. Crumbling under England's pressure wasn't ideal, it also wasn't the be all and end all, especially with England being in fine form throughout this tournament. As long as lessons were learned and the White Ferns ensure that they give themselves another crack at England, we can live with that. To fold under such pressure in a must-win game against India would be incredibly disappointing.
England pretty much had their way with the kiwi bowlers in hitting 284/9 from their 50 overs. Bates top-scored with 44 and Katie Perkins was left on 43*, while Amy Satterthwaite (35) and Katey Martin (21) also got starts that should be been built on. Two of England's batters got starts and one (Natalie Sciver) went on to hit 129, the other (Tammy Beaumont) hit 93. Guess which England batters feature in the top-three run-scorers? Beaumont's first and Sciver's third.
Leigh Kasperek was the most economical kiwi bowler, conceding 4.9rpo while not other kiwi bowler conceded less than 5rpo and after only bowling 11 overs in three games prior to this game, Bates bowled 8 overs (1/51), conceding 6.37 as the most expensive White Ferns bowler.
Bates obviously had a plan in mind and Sophie Devine's injury would have been a key factor, it's just that she not only barely bowled herself in previous games, she often used herself as the last option and against England she brought herself on early and almost bowled her full lot.
Just a bit weird; the make up of the bowling attack and how it's used still intrigues me. Hence this will be a major point to watch on Saturday night as coach Haidee Tiffen and Bates need to settle on their very best attack, well best attack to restrict India.
Holly Huddleston came in for Hannah Rowe which was to be expected and Erin Bermingham came in for Maddy Green for the England game. Green wasn't really used as a bowler and didn't get called upon to bat in previous games, so bringing in Bermingham's leg-spin was a logical move, bolstering the bowling attack. That's likely to be the best White Ferns team possible, although I wouldn't rule out a more seam-heavy bowling attack to take on India and even that could be solved by Bates again bowling over 5 overs.
Rowe could come in for Bermingham and the Ferns will still have two spinners to go with an arsenal of seamers. The joy of this White Ferns team is the all-round ability of Bates, Devine and Satterthwaite, yet Devine doesn't appear likely to bowl a whole lot and Bates hasn't been overly effective. The decision to role with a third spinner (Satterthwaite's barely featured with her offies) or bring in another tall seamer could come down to how Bates views her own bowling; you'd assume that a player of Bates' calibre backs herself immensely.
Big ol' games of cricket like this faux quarter final require the best players to stand up and dominate, that was the foundation of high expectations for the White Ferns. Amelia Kerr was expensive (5.66rpo), but she snapped off 4/51 from her 4 overs and Kasperek was as-per, Perkins did the best she could to finish off the innings as well. A few solid contributions from other team members is great, but to win this quarter final, Aotearoa will need those solid contributions to be put in the shade by the likes of Bates, Satterthwaite, Devine and to an lesser extent Lea Tahuhu and Rachel Priest.
That's what makes this so fun, so exciting. We know we have the quality of players and you'd be a fool against Bates and Satterthwaite wilting in a knockout game. We know we have the pieces around these world-class players to be successful as well, now we are graced with the stage and after watching these White Ferns put up impressive performances for the past 18 months, snatching a semi final spot is the expectation.
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