Going, going, gone?
White Ferns on brink of early exit
Haidee Tiffen’s future as White Ferns coach will come under scrutiny after New Zealand were all but eliminated from the women’s Twenty20 World Cup with a costly loss to Australia.
Having lost Saturday’s opening match of the tournament to India, yesterday’s 33-run loss to Australia at Guyana’s Providence Stadium leaves the Ferns 0-2 in group B and requiring a miracle to advance to the semifinals.
New Zealand’s remaining matches are against Pakistan tomorrow and Ireland on Sunday, but their two first-up losses mean they need India to suffer an unlikely loss to minnows Ireland tomorrow to have any hope of qualifying.
It continues the White Ferns’ worrying recent record at major tournaments in crunch matches. They were bitterly disappointing at last year’s ODI World Cup in England, failing to advance to the semifinals.
At the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, New Zealand, who were unbeaten in the group stage and toppled Australia, lost to eventual champions, the West Indies, by six runs in the semifinal.
New Zealand have built a reputation for feasting on the weaker sides but failing to show up when it matters against elite opponents such as India, Australia, and England.
With Suzie Bates stepping down as skipper in September after ongoing tension with Tiffen, mainly around player selection, the latter’s future as coach will be in jeopardy. Tiffen has held the role since 2015.
Poor fielding, which included three dropped catches and some sloppy ground fielding, crippled the White Ferns against Australia, as the Southern Stars got through to 153-7 after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
New Zealand were left to lament Amelia Kerr spilling a sitter in the third over when star Australian opener Alyssa Healy was on 11. Healy made New Zealand pay, going on to top score with 53 from 38 balls, including eight boundaries.
White Ferns captain Amy Satterthwaite was gutted they again hadn’t fronted as a unit with so much on the line. ‘‘We were outplayed. You can’t be losing eight to 10 wickets consistently and expecting to win big games.’’
The White Ferns needed a lot to go right with the bat on a sluggish pitch in response, but slumped to 13-3 in the third over.
(Alyssa Healy 53, Rachael Haynes 29no, Beth Mooney 26; Leigh Kasperek 3-25, Sophie Devine 2-37)
(Suzie Bates 48, Katey Martin 24; Megan Schutt 3-12, Sophie Molineux 2-20, Delissa Kimmince 2-24) by 33 runs.
Vastly experienced Otago duo Bates and Katey Martin combined for a 66-run fourth wicket stand to get New Zealand briefly back on track. Martin was stumped by a smart piece of glovework from Healy and then Maddy Green and Bernadine Bezuidenhout fell shortly after.
When Bates departed lbw for 48, leaving the Ferns 99-7 in the 15th over, there was no coming back.
Australia 153-7
New Zealand 120
beat