Bates proud of matchwinning knock
SUZIE Bates has played a record 169 matches for New Zealand. She ranks her matchwinning knock against South Africa as one of the most important innings of her career.
The veteran opener cracked an unbeaten 91 from 64 balls at Edgbaston on Saturday, lifting the White Ferns to a 13run win over South Africa in their opening twenty 20 pool match.
Fourteen years after playing basketball at the Olympics, Bates put on a show in her Commonwealth Games cricket debut, hitting eight fours and three sixes with some exceptional shotmaking, particularly during what she called ‘‘party time’’.
The 34yearold took 31 from the final two overs to help her side rack up 167 for two after being sent in, showcasing her power and ingenuity to collect what turned out to be crucial late runs.
In reply, South Africa reached 154 for seven as the White Ferns earned a vital victory to begin the T20 tournament, putting themselves in a strong position to reach the medal round.
Considering all the context, Bates’ proclamation was easy to understand.
This is the debut of women’s cricket at the Commonwealth Games. The Whites Ferns began a poor ODI World Cup at home earlier this year with a narrow defeat.
Their early exit from that tournament spurred a coaching change, Australia assistant Ben Sawyer replacing Bob Carter. And then the team copped some bad headlines by axing Amy Satterthwaite, second on the Ferns’ alltime appearance list.
But Bates banished all that with a display of pure hitting that delighted the crowd in Birmingham — and left her considering a new career high.
‘‘I think it’s probably one of my most important innings in a tournament for New Zealand,’’ she said. ‘‘With what’s gone on in the last few months and the
World Cup being disappointing, we’re so determined to do well here.
‘‘We tried not to talk about it but everyone knew this was a massive game. I’m just really proud we could get across the line because we knew how big a game this was in our pool.’’
With matches to come against Sri Lanka and host England, New Zealand now needs only one more victory to book a semifinal spot.
Its ability to thrive in the medal round will, like at the World Cup, hinge on the key batters atop the order, Bates and skipper Sophie Devine (48 off 40) putting on 99 for the first wicket on Saturday.l
Devine then snared three scalps to make it 100 for her international T20 career, while Bates took a fine tumbling catch to remove the dangerous Laura Wolvaardt.
Twentyyearold Otago spinner Eden Carson made her White Ferns debut, bowling one over for 10 runs.
Once Hayley Jensen ran out bighitting Chloe Tryon (39 off 17) from her own bowling in the 16th over, victory was essentially secured.
That completed something of a dream day for Bates, who had long been looking forward to playing at such a famed ground.
‘‘I was here when they first announced it was going to be at Edgbaston a few years ago and it was something I put in my calendar that I knew I wanted to be a part of,’’ she said.
‘‘To be out there today and have the crowd and be able to play a few fun shots in a twenty20 match at a Commonwealth Games was pretty special.’’
Bates is the only member of the White Ferns with previous experience at a similar tournament, having been part of a Tall Ferns side which won one of five games at the Beijing Olympics. But, she stressed, this was very different.
‘‘I was 19 years old and just there for the experience,’’ she said. ‘‘Now it’s about medalling.’’