2022 Commonwealth Games: Lovely White Ferns Start
Two games into the T20I Games and Aotearoa's White Ferns have banked two wins without much fuss. Aotearoa were too good for South Africa in their opening game and then dispatched Sri Lanka leaving the kiwis perched at the top of their group ahead of their remaining fixture against England. White Ferns lead their group via net-run-rate as England also have two wins and while everything is honki-dory from this opening stanza, the next stanza will determine the White Ferns vibe.
South Africa are low key battling adversity and don't resemble the grizzly force from the World Cup earlier this year. Sri Lanka weren't at the World Cup and are a wahine cricket nation on the rise. These wins for Aotearoa featured positive signs and players feeling the winning energy, yet genuine insights will come from playing England and if the kiwis lose, those insights will gather momentum as their semi-final opponent will be Australia.
White Ferns have again relied on their three best players/only three players with T20 batting averages over 20. Suzie Bates (125 runs @ 130.20sr) and Sophie Devine (72 runs @ 114.28sr) are the only kiwis who have scored 30+ runs from the first two games, next best is Amelia Kerr's 27 runs @ 117.39sr. These three have been deployed in the first three batting slots and the opening duo of Bates/Devine have ensured that they see out the first five overs, while also maintaining 100+ strike-rates in both games.
The best teams like England and Australia will be hunting early wickets, thus exposing a batting line up that feels fragile when front-loaded with the Bates/Devine/Kerr trio. Positive signs were evident against Sri Lanka as Brooke Halliday (22 runs @ 95.65sr), Isabella Gaze (16 runs @ 114.28sr) and Lea Tahuhu (20* @ 250sr) chimed in with runs to ensure a competitive total. Doing that against Sri Lanka and England are vastly different challenges, also providing a learning marker as more varied contributions indicate improvements and development.
Hayley Jensen (4w @ 3.37rpo) and Devine (3w @ 8.20rpo) have been the best kiwi bowlers among a solid bowling unit. Lea Tahuhu is yet to take a wicket, while Kerr and Hannah Rowe have snared wickets in both games. Eden Carson slid into the 1st 11 for both games. Carson got tonked for 10 runs in her only over against South Africa and responded well with 2w @ 7.50rpo against Sri Lanka, also flexing as one of Aotearoa's best fielders.
Carson stayed in the 1st 11 for both games while Fran Jonas played against South Africa and was then replaced by Rosemary Mair for the Sri Lanka fixture. This might have been due to wanting an extra seamer against Sri Lanka where swing could be more effective. Keep track of this Jonas/Carson equation as Carson seems like the better cricketer while Jonas was fast-tracked into the White Ferns.
How Aotearoa balances their steady right-armers and young spinners will be crucial against England's powerful batting line up. Swing will be a factor for Jensen and Devine which could provide a greater challenge for England, while the low key wrinkle is how effective Kerr and Tahuhu can be. Kerr is not the dominant bowler that she was a few years ago but sustains nifty consistency and Tahuhu is yet to take a wicket; Ferns need these two snapping up wickets to be competitive.
The Ferns also appeared untidy in their opening games when measured against Aotearoa cricket fielding standards. Gaze showed value with the bat and is a talented youngster, meanwhile deliveries bounced out or off her gloves while wicket-keeping too often for this level of cricket. Wides and no-balls are a factor with Aotearoa serving up 13 wides in two games for example, plus there are small details like fielders not being on the same wavelength when ripping in for a run-out.
None of those small details have mattered so far, but they will only increase the gap between Aotearoa and the best teams in important games. Aotearoa don't need to win against England, although a win would be fantastic as it would lead to a semi-final against India as opposed to Australia. This is the start of a new White Ferns era and after a lovely start, facing England and possibly Australia will provide more insights in assessing what we should expect from Aotearoa's wahine cricket team moving forward.
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Peace and love.