White Ferns In England: T20 Tri-Series Final Loss

Teach 'em Suzie.

I've kinda been struggling to pinpoint my frustrations with kiwi cricket while writing about kiwi cricket with such a sharp focus over these last few years. In the White Ferns loss to England, in the final of their T20 tri-series, the lack of class when it matters most, perhaps translating into a lack of killer instinct popped up again and that's exactly where the frustration with the White Ferns and Blackcaps sits for me.

Both teams do a great job around the big games and consistently perform at a high level in various series, giving us a taste of what is possible if kiwi cricket gets it right. When it matters most though, neither team can translate those performances into clutch, game-winning performances against quality opposition. This is a frustration for me, because I know that kiwi cricket is capable of so much more and I feel as though Aotearoa can be a cricket powerhouse - in keeping with Aotearoa being the best kg-for-kg sporting nation in the world - but right now, both international teams are unable to rise to the nek level.

Follow England Women at ecb.co.uk/england/women England comprehensively outplayed New Zealand to win the women's Twenty20 tri-series final by seven wickets. This is the official channel of the ECB. Watch all the latest videos from the England Cricket Team and England and Wales Cricket Board.

It won't be frustrating for you if you're content with where either team's at and that is completely fine. Personally, I just want a bit more and that's solely because I know that it's possible. This is nicely encapsulated in the tour of Ireland and England thus far because the Ferns dominated Ireland, caught the headlines with their record-breaking wins against Ireland and then lost all three T20 games against England. Not only losing, but losing by hefty margins; 54 runs, 7 wickets and 7 wickets. 

You're either content with bullying Ireland and beating South Africa, or like me you're a wee bit frustrated that the White Ferns were soundly beaten by England in all three of their T20s, including the final.

The final highlighted where a major problem may reside and how other players besides Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Amy Satterthwaite perform in the upcoming three ODI fixtures vs England will be a major point of intrigue. Bates (114.81sr) and Devine (172.22sr) hit 31 runs each in the final, scoring 55 runs in 5.3 overs for their opening stand and the Ferns then worked their way to 137/9 off their 20 overs.

Bates and Devine finished 2nd and 3rd in most runs for this tri-series, the next best batswoman was Satterthwaite in 13th. Satterthwaite scored 58 runs from 4inns, Katey Martin scored 47 runs from 5inns and Maddie Green scored 33 runs from 3inns; the top-order didn't do a whole lot to help Bates and Devine.

No batswoman other than Bates and Devine scored over 60 runs.

With the ball, the kiwis managed 3w in the final. All of which came after the damage had already been done and with England nearing their target; Bates took the first wicket in the 10th over with England on 81, then Kerr chimed in with 2w in the 13th over with England on 102. England reached their target of 138 in 17.1 overs, scoring at 8.21rpo.

Four English bowlers made up the top-four bowlers, while Hayley Jensen was the best of the kiwi bowlers throughout the tri-series, taking 6w @ 22.83avg/8.05rpo. Even this comes with a slight caveat though as 5 of Jensen's 6w came vs South Africa, while Kerr and Leigh Kasperek took the majority of their wickets against England.

There are some worrying signs on the seam bowling front (other than Jensen's dibbly-dobblers) with Lea Tahuhu going wicket-less in 4inns and only bowling 7 overs. Tahuhu has been the premier kiwi seamer, but leaked 9.85rpo and skipper Bates couldn't rely on Tahuhu as a strike-bowler. With Tahuhu under-performing (career T20 average of 19.33), there was little fire power in the seam department as Hannah Rowe only played 2 games, Bates took 1w in 10ov and Devine took 3w @ 32.33avg/8.81rpo.

Two of England's best bowlers (Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole) were seamers and Brunt is effectively the English equivalent of Tahuhu. Now it's ODI time for Tahuhu and while there are likely to be a few changes in personnel between the formats, Tahuhu should lead the bowling attack in the ODIs. For Tahuhu and the White Ferns, it's a case of showing that they can bounce back and still kick it with England, offering a competitive series and there's every chance that they can win the series.

Whether that comes via the outlandish talents of Bates and Devine, class from Satterthwaite, or the all-round abilities of Kerr and Kasperek, or from wholesome team performances where everyone chips in - I don't really care. I just want the White Ferns to win and win big games of cricket against quality opposition and that's likely to require far contributions from the entire team to support Bates and Devine.

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Peace and love 27.