2022 Women's World Cup: Shook Ones (West Indies Defeat Aotearoa)
Aotearoa is playing host to the best wahine cricket teams on planet Earth and the White Ferns tapped into Aotearoa hospitality by allowing West Indies to snatch a win in game tahi. West Indies were led by Hayley Matthews with the willow as she wiggled her way to 119 (92.9sr) and three other Windies batters scored between 20-40 runs, taking Windies to 259/9 in 50 overs.
White Ferns wickets came via Lea Tahuhu's 3w @ 6.33rpo, Jess Kerr's 2w @ 4.30rpo with Hannah Rowe and Amelia Kerr sharing a wicket each. Sophie Devine won the toss and opted to bowl first, suggesting that the Ferns were all good with chasing a target and thanks to 108 runs (85sr) from Devine, the Ferns took the chase into the final over.
Devine received hearty support down the order from Katey Martin (44 runs @ 93.6sr) and Jess Kerr (25 runs @ 119sr) as Aotearoa laid down foundations from which they could pounce. When commentators are talking about 'taking the run chase deep' they are throwing up a different angle to blasting boundaries and cutting down the chase quickly. Taking the chase deep means staying close to the required run-rate, keeping wickets in hand and decreasing the niggle as pressure increases.
6 runs off the final over is a lovely checkpoint from the 'taking the chase deep' angle. Unfortunately for the Ferns, Windies had the match-winning vibe and while this was evident throughout the contest, Deandra Dottin's final over was low key legendary. Matthews and skipper Stafanie Taylor both shared post-game how Dottin demanded to bowl the final over despite barely bowling recently - not even bowling in the nets.
Dottin then dismissed Martin and Kerr, before Hannah Rowe and Fran Jonas fumbled the bag to lose Aotearoa's final wicket. I haven't seen such competitive-clutch-funk in cricket before and Dottin's mana deserves to be celebrated. Whether it was Dottin's mana, Matthews rising to the occasion or Windies snaring slick catches after stink drops; the Windies vibe felt like the difference between the two teams.
And thus, Aotearoa's monumental World Cup on home soil starts with an upset loss to West Indies. By the end of this game, the Ferns looked shook. Their fielding was poor making it impossible to weaponize fielding. They chipped away with wickets but couldn't keep a lid on the Windies total (259 @ 5.18rpo) and the willingness to chase from Aotearoa is good in theory, yet chasing anything over 200 in a World Cup is tricky.
Aotearoa wanted the run-chase though and that's admirable. None of the Ferns batters played with the same conviction of Matthews. Conviction in the plan to chase, no conviction in terms of stamping authority on the innings and the curious thing here is that this batting innings looks like many others from recent years. Credit to Devine who had to hold the innings together and there is plenty of leadership mana present.
No other batters wanted the stage though. Amy Satterthwaite scored 31 runs off 56 deliveries (55sr) and while that's alright in taking the chase deep, the first 30 overs of Aotearoa batting felt passive. Wickets then fell consistently and this lack of chip-ins from the entire batting unit has been a staple of White Ferns losses. I'm starting this World Cup with the benefit of doubt being in favour of the White Ferns and that will continue, while also sharing that many nitty-gritty points of niggle from the White Ferns woes under coach Bob Carter were evident in this one game.
Little plans that don't work. Many awkward selection decisions. Who else wants to step up?
Confidence can be gathered quickly. Look at the recent series vs India and warm up games where confidence was built within and hype was built from onlookers. It can also vanish. Windies were chuffed to be there, eager to take the contest to Aotearoa and enjoy that process. Their enthusiasm was palpable. Aotearoa looked stressed throughout the game - the whole vibe kinda resembled England's Test team (almost had 20+ staff members watching as well).
West Indies won by 3 runs, in the final over. Not a hiding, a fantastic cricketing contest. This upset loss was about the vibe though, how Windies kept on rising to the moment and how Aotearoa dipped away in these moments. Consider this a vibe checkpoint; a test of the White Ferns vibe and mentality in a World Cup on Aotearoa soil. The next game vs Bangladesh on Monday should help refresh things.
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Peace and love.