Bates’ injury blow for struggling Ferns
CRICKET
AUCKLAND: White Ferns allrounder Suzie Bates has been ruled out of the remaining two Rose Bowl oneday internationals against Australia after sustaining a shoulder injury in the first ODI on Saturday.
That is a major blow for the New Zealanders whose 21year wait to lift the Rose Bowl is set to drag on after they were hammered by seven wickets by Australia in Brisbane.
Bates fell awkwardly on her right shoulder when diving for a ball in the outfield.
She had an MRI scan and the White Ferns medical team is awaiting further consultation with specialists to determine the final diagnosis.
Lauren Down’s elbow niggle is still troubling her and the batswoman has been ruled out of today’s second game.
Saturday’s win made it 19 consecutive ODI victories for Australia.
Put in to bat, the White Ferns reached 23 without loss after four overs, but they soon tumbled to 60 for four.
After batting somewhat conservatively — or at least slowly — in the twenty20 series, all of a sudden the White Ferns top order was swinging with intent to attempt to up the run rate, only to hole out tamely.
Natalie Dodd picked out midwicket, Bates got a full toss but sent it straight to deep midwicket, and skipper Sophie Devine’s attempted slap merely looped to midon.
In retrospect, the aggressive approach was better than what followed, as 64 balls went by without a boundary, yet two further wickets still fell to put the Ferns in a dire position of 83 for six in the 28th over.
Having selected a seamheavy attack for the tour, somewhat enforced with Leigh Kasperek and Anna Peterson unavailable, the White Ferns have instead seen the Australians dominate them with spin, with Georgia Wareham (101232), Jess Jonassen (9.10292) and Sophie Molineux (103282) combining to bowl a staggering 125 dot balls, and then profiting when the rash shots emerged.
Maddy Green (35 from 49) and Katie Perkins (32 from 51) provided a tad of respectability with a 62run stand for the seventh wicket, as the White Ferns scraped through to 180 all out, but the classy Australian top order knocked it off with ease, cruising to a sevenwicket victory with 16 overs to spare. ‘‘No excuse,’’ Devine said.
‘‘I thought we were poor with the bat today.
‘‘The lower order showed us what needed to be done with a strong partnership between Perkins and Green.
‘‘Then with the bowling, we never found our line and lengths and we got put to the sword by a fantastic Australian side.’’
Game two is this afternoon . — The New Zealand Herald/staff