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White Ferns win the hard way to secure ODI series against Pakistan
Logan Swinkels • December 15th, 2023 9:49 pm
An improved bowling performance and strong fielding laid the platform for the White Ferns to claim their one-day international series against Pakistan with one more match still to play, but they did it the hard way with the bat, winning by a single wicket with seven balls remaining.
New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine won the toss and elected to ball. The drama began on the very first ball at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval when Melie Kerr caught a screamer off Lea Tahuhu’s bowling – it went upstairs to the third umpire and deemed to have carried through off Muneeba Ali’s bat – it was the worst possible start for Pakistan at 0/1 following Tahuhu’s wicket maiden over.
The Pakistani openers struggled to get anything going in the opening five overs, crawling at 3 runs per over. By the sixth over, they were both back in the pavilion when Sidra Ameen sent a thick top edge from Hannah Rowe’s delivery to the boundary, only to be caught by Tahuhu.
A third wicket went begging in the following over, Devine in the slips unable to complete the catch, leaving Bismah Maroof to likely breathe a sigh of relief. That was until the safe hands of Tahuhu grabbed another high ball much to the delight of bowler Molly Penfold, who was brought in for today’s match replacing Jess Kerr – Bismah dismissed on 7, and Pakistan were struggling at 32/3 after 11 overs.
The wickets continued to tumble to close out the twelfth over when Devine picked up her first of the match – a brilliant piece of wicketkeeping by 19-year-old Izzy Gaze, diving to her left to nab the ball one-handed, Aliya Riaz out on 7 runs off 31 balls.
It wasn’t until the fifth wicket partnership of Natalia Pervaiz and Fatima Sana that the visitors were able to scratch some runs together off the White Ferns’ stifling bowling attack.
Natalia managed to cobble together an innings of 39 before she was undone by Penfold, the umpire confirmed LBW, leaving Fatima to anchor their efforts to set a competitive total after Pakistan’s wobbly start.
Fran Jonas picked up a pair of wickets in the 47th over, claiming Najiha Alvi on 32, plus Umm-e-Hani on zero by completing the caught and bowled from a slow lofted shot towards the 19-year-old spinner.
Fatima was all class with the bat while wickets fell around her, the stand-in skipper finished on 90 not out in her captaincy debut with Nida Dar ruled out with concussion, notching up the highest ODI total of any Pakistan women’s captain.
But it was another milestone moment that closed out the innings, White Ferns skipper Devine successfully claimed her 100th ODI wicket when Ghulam Fatima sent a high ball into the hands of Bernadine Bezuidenhout.
Chasing 221, Melie Kerr came in to bat with Suzie Bates due to usual opening partner Bezuidenhout nursing a hand injury, but Kerr was gone within the first over – an inside edge played onto the stumps for Fatima to make the early breakthrough.
Devine came in aggressive, swinging at will, before giving her wicket away cheaply on 6 runs off 11 deliveries. The wheels were threatening to come off for New Zealand at 13/2 in the third over.
But as Bates has done so often in her international career, she controlled the chase with poise, while Maddy Green continued her recent show of form with the bat. The pair combined for a third wicket partnership of 142 until an awkward shot was the undoing of Bates (74) in the 32nd over, stretching to nearly thirty overs without losing a wicket.
By that point, the White Ferns were cruising with 66 runs remaining from 108 balls, the current run rate comfortably above the required rate with seven wickets in hand. But Pakistan had other ideas – taking an additional five wickets and only giving up 26 runs in a spell of six overs.
Green was the first to go on 83, followed by Izzy Gaze (6) after the young wicketkeeper was bowled out by Ghulam Fatima, who picked up her fourth of the match when Rowe (1) was caught by Maroof.
Georgia Plimmer (10) was flirting with disaster with several caught and bowled opportunities gifted but missed, before being dismissed via LBW in the 41st over.
White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer opted to send out the injured Bezuidenhout (3), who lasted 7 deliveries before Pakistan’s Umm-e-Hani eventually converted a caught and bowled chance. The run chase was looking more than a little nervy under the Hagley Oval lights.
Tahuhu looked to calm things down but when Penfold (2) was bowled out by Nashra Sandhu, New Zealand required 13 more runs from 26 balls, and just one wicket remaining.
In the end, it was a wide delivery from Fatima that provided the winning run. Tahuhu finished on 21 not out, shrugging her shoulders slightly in victory, while Jonas (5*) provided adequate support.
Play returns to Christchurch for the third and final ODI of Pakistan’s tour of New Zealand on Monday.
Catch live ball-by-ball commentary of the White Ferns on SENZ, tune in from 1.30pm Monday – available on the SENZ app and all local frequencies.
