Seddon Park formula sparks turnaround
Win the toss at Seddon Park, bowl first, rip through India, and then cruise to an eight-wicket victory.
No, this is not a recount of the Black Caps’ performance — it’s the strategy employed by the White Ferns, who emulated their male counterparts with a dominant win in their women’s one day international in Hamilton yesterday.
Much like the Black Caps, the White Ferns saved their best cricket until the series had been clinched by India, but dead rubber or not, their victory will be a significant boost to their confidence after what had been a disappointing last few months.
The victory was led by the bowlers. Finally, the dangerwoman from the first two games — Smriti Mandhana — went cheaply, dismissed for one in the fourth over, while young star Jemimah Rodrigues and legendary captain Mithali Raj — in her 200th ODI — also didn’t stick around for long.
Deepti Sharma attempted to anchor the innings with 52, but no other Indian batswoman reached 25 as Anna Peterson (4-28) did most of the damage. All the New Zealand bowlers contributed however, and when Lea Tahuhu (3-26) cleaned up the tail, India were all out for 149.
Given the White Ferns’ batting displays earlier in the series, there were reasons to doubt whether they could chase down 150, but Suzie Bates put a quick end to that.
She smacked 57 off 64 balls, and though Lauren Down — promoted to open — was the victim of an unfortunate runout backing up at the nonstriker’s end, captain Amy Satterthwaite made sure there would be no issues with the chase, crafting an unbeaten 66 to see the White Ferns home with more than 20 overs to spare.