2022 Commonwealth Games: White Ferns Preview
Aotearoa White Ferns start a new era at the Commonwealth Games and after being led down a more dramatic path than recent All Blacks shenanigans in ODI cricket, T20I cricket provides greater comfort. This tournament also only features colonized nations and which usually helps kiwis grab more medals, although cricket is a beacon of colonization and most of the teams from the ODI World Cup are taking part in these T20 Games.
There are some tweaks with West Indies and Bangladesh not involved, replaced by Barbados and Sri Lanka. Barbados have West Indian internationals Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin to keep things funky. Sri Lanka are in Aotearoa's pool and they should in theory be easier competition for Aotearoa, after the kiwis take on South Africa in their opening game. Aotearoa play their final game of pool play against England.
These games will be played over a week and the top two teams will qualify for semi-finals. If Aotearoa lose to South Africa and England, they will probably not slide into medal contention unless other results fall their way. Even though Aotearoa are better in T20I cricket compared to ODI cricket, the White Ferns squad balances that hope out as many of Aotearoa's best cricketers continue to be overlooked.
New coach Ben Sawyer leads a young squad along with the likes of Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr and Lea Tahuhu. Most of the other teams have similar squads to their ODI World campaigns and that lowers White Ferns expectations a wee bit.
This tournament starts a new era under a new coach, however this feels more like a hangover. Coach Sawyer would have had some kind of influence in selecting this squad but NZC announced their contracts before Sawyer's appointment and many of their principles are evident in this squad. Sawyer's influence can be explored throughout this tournament in performances and vibe, although the major insights will come this summer; Sawyer might want to win more games and that will require the best players who are dominating domestic cricket.
Such wrinkles are highly relevant when this T20I Games squad of 15 players features three players with T20 batting averages over 20. Not T20 International stats, but T20 career stats that for most of this squad stem from Super Smash mahi. That's all good for a development thread to keep tabs on but isn't conducive with winning, amplifying pressure on the best players.
Aotearoa has played two warm up games against England 'A' and no surprises here as Devine and Bates scored most of the runs in both games. Devine had scores of 69 (33) and 54 (21). Bates had scores of 48 (37) and 55 (37). Kerr scored 43 (27) in the second game along with Green's 28 (18). Devine, Bates and Kerr are the only players averaging 20+ in T20 cricket so their runs are obviously crucial. Green will play a key role in the White Ferns batting line up and important runs will elevate her standing as an international batter.
Tahuhu was the only White Fern bowler to take 2w in one of these games and the kiwis managed to take 2w in the first game, then 4w and a couple run-outs in the second game. Eight bowlers were used in the first game and six of them conceded over 9rpo. Eight bowlers were used in the second game and four conceded over 9rpo. That's against England 'A' so Aotearoa's ability to take wickets and restrict run-scoring will be under pressure against the best batters in the world.
Aotearoa faces South Africa first up on Saturday night. While the kiwis have been playing England's second tier, South Africa have been playing Tests, ODIs and T20Is against England. South Africa lost all three T20Is and South Africa have had a few niggly availability issues but should roll out a similar team against Aotearoa as we saw last summer.
How Aotearoa performs against South Africa will set the tone for these T20I Games. Dominant mahi from Devine might be enough to snare a win and Aotearoa has enough individual class to be a factor in this tournament. As we saw last summer, the White Ferns lack contributions from role-players and as good as the core of this team is, Aotearoa could suffer the same woes. Let's start with optimism though.
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Peace and love.