White Ferns ODI Series vs India & Women's Championship Update
New Zealand's White Ferns had to quickly switch into ODI mode after their T20 World Cup success and went down 1-2 to India in the Women's Championship. Aotearoa lost the first game and Amelia Kerr suffered an injury, however the kiwis won the second ODI without A-Kerr before losing the third outing.
White Ferns have one more ODI series against Australia to play in the Women's Championship with all three games to be played at the Basin Reserve leading into the festive period. The top five teams and 2025 World Cup hosts India will roll straight into qualification, leaving the remaining teams to play a qualification tournament with two more spots up for grabs.
Aotearoa appears to be in a tricky spot as the are currently sixth with a tough series vs Australia coming up. Every team will play 24 games and Pakistan is the closest team to New Zealand on the ladder, but they have already played all their games. West Indies have more games to play but they are further behind Pakistan and unlikely to win enough games to trouble the White Ferns standing.
White Ferns should stay in sixth, perhaps even moving up to fifth if they can snare a win or two vs Australia. Even if the kiwis are overtaken on the WC ladder, they would be favourites to win the qualification tournament. The 9-10 WC record for White Ferns is solid and as not all their ODIs have been in the WC context, White Ferns are 2-7 in ODIs this year with their win vs India snapping a four game losing streak.
Given how Aotearoa won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal and then won the T20 World Cup, White Ferns have shown that they can shake off lots of losses to win when it matters most. This sets up an intriguing phase of ODI cricket as they take their 2-7 record this year into a series vs Australia and eventually a World Cup next year.
A-Kerr showed her class in the first ODI as she took 4w @ 4.6rpo and scored 25* @ 109sr in a brave effort batting down the order. That haul of wickets saw A-Kerr finish alongside Sophie Devine and Eden Carson on 4w, while Jess Kerr was the best bowler for White Ferns vs India...
Jess Kerr: 5w @ 19.6avg/5.2rpo
Amelia Kerr: 4w @ 10.5avg/4.6rpo
Sophie Devine: 4w @ 25.2avg/4.9rpo
Eden Carson: 4w @ 29.7avg/3.9rpo
Lea Tahuhu: 3w @ 24avg/4.5pro
Hannah Rowe: 2w @ 23.5avg/5.8rpo
Suzie Bates: 1w @ 48avg/5.3rpo
Fran Jonas: 1w @ 83avg/4.3rpo
Molly Penfold: 5ov @ 5.6rpo
J-Kerr is also the best bowler in the WC for Aotearoa as the only bowler with 25+ wickets and an average below 20. Lea Tahuhu is next for WC wickets on 22w, followed by Devine and A-Kerr on 18w each. Fran Jonas has 15w and Eden Carson has 10w but Carson was the better bowler vs India with Carson playing all three games for the full 30ov, while Jonas bowled 19ov in two games.
Jess Kerr Career Mahi
ODIs: 24.58avg/4.3rpo
T20Is: 38.72avg/6.3rpo
Eden Carson Career Mahi
ODIs: 41.2avg/4.7rpo
T20Is: 16.1avg/6.2rpo
Carson has only bowled 4ov @ 7rpo in kiwi conditions, while 10 of her 11 ODI innings bowled have been overseas. This is balanced by Jonas playing 13 ODI innings in Aotearoa and 11 overseas, averaging 44.7 at home and 53.1 away. White Ferns could deploy Carson and Jonas against Australia, but there will probably only be room for one and Carson followed up her strong T20WC by being the most economical White Ferns bowler vs India.
Penfold only got 5ov in her one appearance vs India and despite being a better T20I bowler, Penfold didn't play at the T20WC. Like Carson and Jonas, there is a clear difference in Penfold's effectiveness across formats...
Fran Jonas Career Mahi
ODIs: 47.7avg/4.6rpo
T20Is: 25.2avg/5.9rpo
Molly Penfold Career Mahi
ODIs: 65.4avg/5.1rpo
T20Is: 26.85avg/8rpo
Only two batters scored 100+ runs vs India and the theme of role-players adding more oomph to White Ferns batting continues as Brooke Halliday and Georgia Plimmer led Aotearoa for runs...
Brooke Halliday: 133 runs @ 44.3avg/80sr
Georgia Plimmer: 105 runs @ 35avg/74sr
Sophie Devine: 90 runs @ 30avg/88sr
Maddy Green: 88 runs @ 29.3avg/98sr
Suzie Bates: 63 runs @ 21avg/72sr
Izzy Gaze: 45 runs @ 15avg/48sr
Lauren Down: 30 runs @ 10avg/37sr
Amelia Kerr: 25 runs @ 109sr
Lea Tahuhu: 24 runs @ 24avg/160sr
Jess Kerr: 15 runs @ 15avg/136sr
Halliday is averaging 35 in 13 WC innings for Aotearoa, while Plimmer is steadily improving on her WC average of 16.6. Green played a few crucial knocks at the T20WC and she has the second highest WC batting average (40.6) behind A-Kerr's 54avg. Devine has an epic strike-rate of 100.4 through 19 innings and she leads the White Ferns power hitting along with Tahuhu's 105sr, then J-Kerr's 98.6sr.
Down has been graced with frequent ODI opportunities after putting up 37.8avg/82.5sr in 2022. That still sits as her only year averaging 25+ in ODI batting and she didn't snap up her chance to play all three games against India, currently on 8.8avg/45sr in five innings this year. This is Down's fourth year of six averaging below 10 and there is a clear split in where Down scores runs as she averages 21.6 in Aotearoa, then 14.1 overseas.
Gaze couldn't take her T20I mahi into this ODI series vs India, which is aligned with her WC batting where she averages 15.9 with a strike-rate of 63. Polly Inglis didn't play against India and while Gaze is likely to be given a long run of opportunities as the ODI wicket-keeper, how these players perform in HBJ Shield over the next few weeks will be interesting to track.
Izzy Gaze | Polly Inglis
List-A: 14.7avg/63s | 20.6avg/69sr
T20: 11.9avg/94sr | 15.6avg/89sr
The series loss vs India sums up where White Ferns are at in ODI cricket nicely. A-Kerr had a brief flash of her excellence and J-Kerr was the best bowler, with A-Kerr leading Aotearoa for WC runs and J-Kerr leading the wickets. Some of the holes that have hindered White Ferns in the WC were on show, especially in the younger group of players who were adapting to Indian conditions.
The best aspect of White Ferns ODI cricket is the batting department where A-Kerr, Bates, Devine and Green now have more support from Halliday and Plimmer especially. With Tahuhu and J-Kerr adding quick runs down the order, White Ferns have the consistency and oomph to trouble opponents.
While White Ferns have five batters averaging 30+ with strike-rates over 70 in the WC, there is only one bowler averaging below 20. The four bowlers who average below 30 are all seamers (J-Kerr, Tahuhu, Devine, Hannah Rowe) and there is no bowler for New Zealand conceding less than 4rpo in the WC.
HBJ Shield performances are unlikely to influence selection for the Australia series but one would expect the White Ferns to dominate in returning to domestic cricket. A-Kerr's injury will impact her Women's Big Bash League involvement after moving from Heat to Sixers for this season, while Devine is locked in with Scorchers and Bates is in line to play for Hurricanes as a replacement player later in the tournament.
Only having three White Ferns in WBBL reflects how Aotearoa cricketers are viewed as this is a notable dip in kiwis playing in Australia. It could be boosted by the T20WC success and there is always an opportunity for players to fill spots throughout WBBL, however the ability to have New Zealand's best cricketers playing HBJ Shield will provide a boost to the domestic circuit.
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