While many kiwis with an interest in White Ferns cricket would have been optimistic about their World T20 chances, especially after doing what they always do in beating up weaker opposition and impressing in warm up games, a first up loss to India came with a severe dose of reality. That reality though, shouldn't be a surprise, not when the White Ferns are on a losing streak against quality opposition/in major tournaments.

Go back to earlier in the year when the White Ferns lost all three T20 games against England while beating South Africa in a T20 tri-series. Then came three losses to Australia and that's a six-game losing streak, now seven games as India put the Ferns under immense pressure to get the W against .. guess who? Australia.

Highlights of New Zealand v India in the opening fixture of the Womens World T20 2018.

That game against Australia will be followed by games against Pakistan and Ireland, the type of opposition that whips kiwis into good vibes about the White Ferns. By that time though, assuming India and Australia handle their own business, the White Ferns may be playing for pride and reflecting on another wasted opportunity.

We're all about the good vibes and positivity at the Niche Cache, along with keeping it real. Keeping it real becomes even more important when there's an illusion at play and for those who tune into White Ferns cricket on a casual basis, the illusion is that everything is honki-dory. The White Ferns were once on par with Australia, England and India but have slipped down a tier in losing seven games in a row against the best teams; those teams are getting better while the White Ferns get left behind.

It was the same story in the loss to India as Suzie Bates did her best in hitting 67 off 50, as the White Ferns were left stranded on 160 in pursuit of 195. Bates is under immense pressure and is doing all she can to keep the Ferns competitive, yet the supporting cast are consistently struggling to impact games and in cricket, there is only so much one player can do.

Unfortunately, that supporting cast now includes skipper Amy Satterthwaite who went for 18 runs off 1ov and then managed 3 off 9 with the bat. Satterthwaite has one 50+ score in 14 T20I games this year and hasn't taken a wicket this year either, which makes her effort in a game the Ferns kinda needed to win, par for the course this year.

We have consistently seen that the gap between Bates, Satterthwaite and Sophie Devine and the supporting cast is too great for the Ferns to win these big games. Other than strong contributions from Katey Martin, it's a nightmare to rely on the others to pick up the slack and then, if Devine and Satterthwaite combine score 11 runs (Devine hit 9 off 9) as they did vs India; things ain't looking good.

Only three batswomen faced more than 10 deliveries vs India. Leigh Kasperek did bloody well to hit 19 off her 9 deliveries, but other than that, batters came and went swiftly. This followed on from the Ferns taking just 5w in the Indian innings and being absolutely pumped by Harmanpreet Kaur who smacked 105 off 51.

Lea Tahuhu flipped her script of not taking many, if any wickets during the Ferns losing streak to roll out an impressive 2w @ 6rpo. The Ferns best bowlers were also solid with Kasperek taking 1w @ 7rpo and Devine taking 1w @ 7.33rpo. Amelia Kerr went wicket-less @ 9rpo and this year, Kerr has gone without a wicket in 8 of 13 T20I innings bowled.

There is little to suggest that Jess Watkin or Hayley Jensen will be able to provide the required support against Australia either. Watkin took a wicket but conceded 13.33rpo and Jensen conceded 14rpo without a wicket; Jensen is on a five-game T20I streak without a wicket and Watkin has just 3w in 5inns bowled in her career.

For the White Ferns to beat Australia, someone needs to support Bates. Martin did a solid job with the bat vs India, although it wasn't enough and there is a desperate need for a bowler to pose a serious wicket-taking threat to help the kiwis take 10w. This essentially boils down to who, other than Bates wants to stand up and take responsibility, otherwise we'll bump this losing streak up to eight and the World T20 campaign will be all but over.

Hit an ad to support the White Ferns content.

Or jump on Patreon and support the Niche Cache directly, we drop bonus stuff for the Patrons and take care of the homies.

Peace and love 27.