White Ferns vs South Africa ODI Series Preview
Aotearoa's White Ferns start their tour of South Africa on Sunday with the first of three ODIS before swinging into five T20Is. The ODIs are part of the ICC Women's Championship where the kiwis are seventh of 10 teams with a 4-3 record, all of which has been played under coach Ben Sawyer. South Africa share 10 points with White Ferns on the Championship ladder and this series is funky because South Africa have a dominant 5-1 record, yet they are missing many of their best players for this series.
South Africa have defeated Aotearoa in the last two World Cups. First was the ODI World Cup in Aotearoa and then came the T20 World Cup in South Africa where White Ferns were rolled for 67 ... after being rolled for 76 by Australia. The fresh South Africa ODI squad to host White Ferns this time around has Laura Wolvaardt as skipper along with certified internationals Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Ayabonga Kaka, Chloe Tryon and Masabata Klaas.
White Ferns are a far better T20I team than they are ODI team. Despite the buzz of a new coach in Sawyer all the grand themes of White Ferns cricket have flowed into the apparent new era. This was on display in tour of Sri Lanka a few months ago when White Ferns went down 1-2 in ODIs to Sri Lanka.
Kate Anderson is the major inclusion for the White Ferns ODI squad. Anderson has been sublime in domestic cricket and was the best player in Aotearoa last summer after her move from Northern to Canterbury. Best suited to a top-six batting slot, Anderson is a good fielder who can bowl offies if required.
Izzy Gaze is also selected as a wicket-keeper. Bernadine Bezuidenhout is likely to play as the 1st 11 wicket-keeper with Gaze continuing her development journey in the squad. There is a significant difference between Bezuidenhout averaging 25.47 in List-A cricket and Gaze averaging 8.9 in LA. Bezuidenhout is a genuine top-order player which compliments the all-round abilities of Devine, A-Kerr and Bates.
Georgia Plimmer (16.8avg in LA) and Brooke Halliday (22.6avg in LA) are role-playing batters to watch out for. Plimmer has only batted in three ODIs with scores of 10+ in all three and she is yet to score 25+ runs in 15 innings across both formats for White Ferns. Halliday hasn't scored 30+ in her last two years of ODI batting with 14.2avg in 2022 and then 3avg in ODIs this year.
The seam attack features Lea Tahuhu and Jess Kerr as the best bowlers with Hannah Rowe offering a solid all-round skillset. Eden Carson has now played four ODIs with 5w @ 29avg/4.8rpo and there is an intriguing spin battle on offer here with Fran Jonas, amplified by South African conditions which skew towards seam. Jonas has 9w @ 49avg/4.8rpo in her ODI career and she hasn't kicked on from the hype around her debut stanza for White Ferns.
Molly Penfold should thrive in South Africa as a hostile seamer with ample athleticism. This is countered by Penfold taking 2w @ 77avg/4.9rpo in ODIs and she is yet to take a wicket in three T20Is. That stems from a lack of domestic dominance as Penfold as a LA record of 37.8avg/5.4rpo and a T20 record of 43.7avg/7rpo.
At some point various White Ferns players need to perform. Coach Sawyer has continued the theme of selecting players on potential over performance and White Ferns continue to underwhelm. White Ferns have had another year with more resource, more training, more skill development and more opportunities for players overseas. Up to this point, this has not translated to improved performance and South Africa serves as a key checkpoint in assessing White Ferns ODI cricket.
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