White Ferns ODI Series Win vs Pakistan And Somehow It All Feels The Same
After sealing an ODI series win over Pakistan in the first two games, Aotearoa's White Ferns finished the third encounter tied with Pakistan with the tourists winning in a super over. Before exploring the murky estuary waters deep in White Ferns mangroves, credit to the New Zealand team for a series win and the continued excellence of kiwi cricket legends.
Suzie Bates scored the most runs for WF against Pakistan with 206 runs @ 68avg/87sr and she had a run of three 50+ scores in a row streching back into the T20I series. Bates is the only batter in women's cricket who has scored 4,000+ runs in T20I cricket and she is currently third for ODI runs for all batters as one of four players with 5,000+ ODI runs.
This puts Bates at the top of the Aotearoa's ODI run-scoring chart as well. The highest ODI batting average for WF salute goes to Amelia Kerr who scored 164 runs @ 54avg/102sr against Pakistan and now has an ODI average of 44.25. Only three WF have scored 1,000+ ODI runs averages over 40 which includes Bates (41.4avg) and Debbie Hockley (41.89avg).
A sneaky WF storyline in recent years is A-Kerr emerging as a world-class batter and the best Aotearoa batter right now. A-Kerr has four ODI centuries and at 23-years-old she is already tied with Hockley for ODI centuries and behind the the Bates, Sophie Devine, Amy Satterthwaite trio.
Lea Tahuhu finished with 5w @ 22avg/4.3rpo against Pakistan, tied with Devine (5w @ 16avg/4.6rp) and A-Kerr (5w @ 27avg/5rpo) as the best bowlers for NZ in this series. Tahuhu (109w) and Devine (101w) are the only WF with 100+ ODI wickets. Tahuhu is joined by A-Kerr as the only WF with 80+ wickets in less than 100 games.
Maddy Green is also in a career-best zone, scoring 152 runs @ 152avg/89sr against Pakistan. Green is in her second consecutive year averaging 30+ in ODI cricket, after hitting the 30+ average mark just once in eight years prior. Green has five scores over 50 in the last two years which is more than her three 50+ scores in the eight years prior.
Along with Devine's 105 runs @ 35av/132sr, WF had their four best batters finish this ODI series with 100+ runs and averages over 30. They all hit a 50+ score as well and this recipe has usually been good enough for WF to defeat any opposition not named Australia or England in home conditions. This is how WF win games and along with Tahuhu's bowling, plus her competitive batting mana; WF have and should be able to defeat most touring teams with their best players leading the way.
WF are now third in the Women's Championship, tied with Pakistan on 16 points but below them with one less win. This is a great spot for WF to be as we end 2023 but it could quickly change as Australia and Pakistan have eight wins while England, India and South Africa all have seven wins along with NZ.
Despite a series win, WF are 4-4 in ODIs this year. The tricky thing about this ODI series against Pakistan was processing whether there were notable improvements in WF mahi, signs that their plateau could switch into a slight positive flow. Given that they lost the T20I series and rolled out quintessential WF stuff (good and bad) in the ODIs against a Pakistan team missing some of their best players, nothing has really changed even though WF won the series.
After a dominant win in the first ODI, WF slipped back into fragile mode for the second game. WF had Pakistan 35/4 in the 12th over of the second ODI before drifting out of the contest and allowing Pakistan to reach 220 in the final over. This was followed by a more alarming collapse with the bat where WF were 155/3 as Bates was dismissed and WF were soon 208/9. Praise Aotearoa that Tahuhu stopped the rot with a knock full of mana down the order.
WF didn't have such a dramatic collapse in the third ODI but no batter outside the top-five scored 20+ runs and a strong start became a steady finish. WF again allowed Pakistan to rebuild their batting innings and despite appearing to finish strong with a flurry of wickets (5w in last 10 overs), basic errors cost WF the win as Pakistan did enough to tie the game.
Tahuhu's knock to win the second ODI was so impressive because it is a divergence from the WF vibe. They usually don't win close games, they usually collapse and struggle to execute their skills under pressure. For all the excellence of A-Kerr and Devine, even including the super over exploits of Devine which probably stem from WBBL rather than WF winning oomph; the plight of WF cricket was evident in their super over performance.
Pakistan hit two deliveries straight to fielders in the deep, both were fumbled and singles became two runs. Add in another double thanks to hard running and three runs became six runs, taking Pakistan's super over tally to 11. While WF didn't need to go bonkers with the bat in pursuit of their target, but they tried. A-Kerr and Devine were both caught in the deep, game over.
Fortunately and unfortunately, the major WF storylines and trends continue. Izzy Gave finished with 16 runs @ 8avg in this series and Georgia Plimmer scored 15 runs @ 7.5avg. Add in Hannah Rowe's 12 runs @ 6avg and it's easy to see how WF collapse so easily after their best batters lay a foundation.
Gaze averages 14 in ODIs this year and Plimmer's on 11avg. Together, they have one score over 50 across both domestic formats. Very few domestic runs makes it hard to score international runs and Gaze was deployed as WF opener in the third ODI, with domestic batting averages of 12 (List-A) and 11 (T20).
This was a fascinating series for Gaze, who is clearly a talented cricketer. Aside from barely scoring domestic runs, Gaze does not look like the best wicket-keeper in Aotearoa. The talent is evident in how Gaze can make hard wicket-keeping mahi look easy but she also makes the easy mahi look really hard. Whether it's the ball fumbling out for basic takes over and over again, or errors such as the four byes in the final over; Gaze looks like someone who hasn't played much domestic cricket.
Bernadine Bezuidenhout flashed her batting ability in the first ODI with 86 runs @ 100sr, but didn't play as wicket-keeper in this series. Bezuidenhout made key errors herself as a fielder in the second ODI, dropping basic chances that were aligned with WF failing to execute skills under pressure. Bezuidenthout injured herself in one of these attempts so she didn't play the third ODI and as one of the contenders for best wicket-keeper/batters in NZ, Bezuidenhout didn't play that role.
This is because WF don't know who their best wicket-keeper is and this has been brewing for at least a year. Jess McFadyen was selected and then brushed aside, with Bezuidenhout and Gaze sharing the role. Bezuidenhout has played five ODI this year and Gaze has played six, which is odd considering that neither of them are good enough as batters or fielders to command selection alongside the other.
Plimmer is also blatantly talented but that has not translated to international run-scoring, which is especially niggly when the best batters in Aotearoa are overlooked for selection. As the supreme young batting talent for WF, Plimmer has an ODI average of 12 and T20I average of 10. With a LA average of 19 and Super Smash average of 11, there is no foundations for Plimmer to be selected for WF let alone perform against the best players in the world.
Even when there are positive wrinkles like Molly Penfold taking her first ODI wickets since 2021 or Fran Jonas flashing her class (and batting prowess), they are tinged with WF ick. Jonas is barely a spinner at this point, offering left-arm swing and another supreme youngster finishes this year with 6w @ 37avg/4.5rpo; Jonas took 4 of her 6w this year in the series vs Pakistan.
Penfold now has 4w @ 51avg in eight ODIs. This return should be expected for a bowler who has not dominated domestic cricket and despite her athletic prowess, Penfold is not among the best wicket-takers in Aotearoa. Regardless, assessing the WF plan is weird considering that the 'best young seamer' in Aotearoa bowled 2ov @ 5rpo in the third ODI.
WF gave Gaze a crack at opener for the third game and while it's kinda bonkers, fair play for highlighting a development spot. Penfold could have been graced with the same opportunity and yet this talent who WF view as good enough to play international cricket with little domestic dominance, was a non-factor with the ball even though the series was wrapped up.
With all of that in mind, nothing has really changed on the White Ferns beat. A cynical perspective may suggest that Pakistan may have performed better with Nida Dar in their ODI team, let alone Diana Baig. WF deserve credit for their ODI series win though and their best players were good enough to win two games, no matter how close they were. This group still does not represent the best female cricketers in Aotearoa, they still lack contributions from role-players and those don't come because those role-players are youngsters who aren't improving at the required rate. Bring on Super Smash cricket to help sort through the best wahine cricketers in Aotearoa.
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