White Ferns need added impetus

Big questions still remain about the depth of talent in the White Ferns.

But the team’s ‘Big Three’ carried enough of the load in Nelson to at least keep their Twenty20 series against England alive ahead of game four in Wellington today.

Sophie Devine, Melie Kerr and Suzie Bates all played starring roles in game three on Sunday to get the hosts on the board in the five-match series.

A motivated captain thumped 60 from 37 balls to help her side reach their best T20 score against England, with support from Kerr, who scored 44 from 35 deliveries.

In England’s reply, Devine bowled top-scorer Maia Bouchier, Kerr ran out in-form visiting skipper Heather Knight, and Bates held her nerve in the last over when England needed eight runs to clinch the series.

There was also some promise from opener Bernadine Bezuidenhout, who was innovative in her 34 from 27 balls. The hosts will need more impetus from her and seamers Hannah Rowe and Rosemary Mair to level the series in the capital.

That’s because England have been strengthened by the addition of key squad members who played in the recently-completed Women’s Premier League in India.

Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, emerging teenage star Alice Capsey and experienced batter Danni Wyatt will make the tourists even tougher to beat in the remaining two matches of the T20 series.

Fans at the game – and two other games at the venue between the two teams – will be able to show their support with poi.

New Zealand Cricket, with support from Sport New Zealand, Cricket Wellington and WellingtonNZ, has worked with Pūhā Rikiriki – Te Āti Awa Taranaki Whānui Poi Manu Rōpū and Hiwa Performance Crew in Wellington to incorporate poi movements into the matchday experience.

Poi will be introduced to celebrate key moments in the game, namely the umpires’ four and six signals – Poi Whā (four) and Poi Ono (six) and Poi Whiua (twirl your poi and cheer).