White Ferns In Australia: New T20 Tour, Hopefully Not The Same Woes
Aotearoa's White Ferns were given a touch up by Australia in the first of three T20 fixtures across the ditch. Batting first, Aotearoa worked their way to 162/5 in 20 overs via 43 (130.30sr) from Sophie Devine and 56 (164.70sr) from wicket-keeper Katey Martin. Australia boast an impressive batting line up and while their top-order didn't fire, Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes did the job in the middle-order to steer Australia to victory in the 18th over.
Any trans-Tasman cricket is going to be highly competitive, however this series is preparing both teams for the World T20 and I'm a wee bit more interested in team selection and combinations from coach Haidee Tiffen than specific results, or individual performances. That starts with what was effectively the same group of players from the T20 tri-series final loss to England a few months ago, playing in this T20 against Australia.
Anna Peterson's absence on this tour opened the door for Bernadine Bezuidenhout, which was the only selection change between the two T20 games. Bezuidenhout batted #7 and chimed in with a very handy 20* (153.84sr) vs Australia and with Aotearoa carrying an abundance of all-rounders, they can slide a batswoman down the order without messing with the balance of the team.
Although 10 of the players from the tri-series final, played in this game, there was plenty of tinkering with the batting line up. Suzie Bates and Devine understandably opened, but then Jess Watkin batted #3 after coming in at #7 vs England. Amy Satterthwaite stayed at #4, with Martin and Maddie Green dropping down a spot to make way for Watkin. Amelia Kerr was the other notable mover and while it's going to be niggly to follow this, I'm eager to see how coach Tiffen and new skipper Satterthwaite view their best playing 11.
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Devine was one of, if not the best all-rounder at the T20 Super Blast and she merely carried that form into this game. Not only did she smoke 43, Devine took 2w @ 7.75rpo and was one of two White Ferns bowlers to take a wicket as Leigh Kasperek also took 2w @ 9.33rpo.
Lea Tahuhu is a major concern for the kiwis as she didn't take a wicket and conceded 8.33rpo, which flows on from the tri-series vs England and South Africa where Tahuhu didn't take a wicket in four games. That's five T20 internationals in a row, in which Tahuhu hasn't taken a wicket and since the start of 2017, Tahuhu has taken 11w in 15inns. As Tiffen tries to build into a World T20 tournament that the White Ferns could legit win, Tahuhu isn't exactly demanding selection.
Bates scored 3 and Satterthwate scored 2, which wasn't ideal either. This was absorbed brilliantly by Devine, Martin and Bezuidenhout who led the Ferns to a competitive total, but Aotearoa need Bates and Satterthwaite to consistently perform if they are to beat Australia, or any of the top nations at the World T20. Based on that first game, this is even more critical when Australia have such an impressive batting unit and Aotearoa's bowlers struggled to make a dent.
The second game is tonight, so we'll be back in the next day or two to suss that out and see if any trends emerge.
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Peace and love 27.