New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women 5th T20I Preview

Although New Zealand already has a 3-1 lead going into the fifth T20I against South Africa, the latest match will still see New Zealand and South Africa continue to battle it out. The match will take place at Hagley Oval, Christchurch on the March 25th.

New Zealand is in a more favourable position heading into the final game as far as team composition is concerned. New Zealand has more options available to them for batting in a T20 match. In addition to having Amelia Kerr leading their batting attack, Sophie Devine is a key player contributing to the success of both sides of the game, Jess Kerr contributes to both areas of the game, as outlined above. Furthermore, both Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine have players capable of scoring runs in both phases of the T20 match that will give New Zealand depth and strength.

While New Zealand has more options available to them for batting, South Africa’s bowling attack is still capable of topping New Zealand’s batting line-up and scoring runs during the first six overs of the T20 match. South African bowlers Kayla Reyneke, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka, Tazmin Brits and Annerie Dercksen were able to disrupt New Zealand’s batting order in this match and contributed to keeping New Zealand from winning all four matches played against South Africa.

It is important to note the location of this game as well. In recent women’s T20I matches played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, the past few years have seen New Zealand being bowled out for 101 runs by Sri Lanka on two occasions (one of those matches being on March 25), and two days later New Zealand was victorious by seven wickets. The weather forecast on March 25 shows that it will be a pleasant afternoon in Christchurch, with temperatures reaching approximately 18 degrees Celsius, with cloudy skies anticipated during the evening. This fact will make for a very competitive match during the first six overs of the T20 match.

Conclusion

While New Zealand’s 3-1 lead against South Africa is not solely a result of one particularly outstanding match, it is still a result of many contributions from a wide variety of players, and not just a couple of key players in one T20 match.In the final game of their four-match series, South Africa’s Proteas achieved their highest total (177/5) to date and secured an 18-run victory due to the consistent performances of the bowlers, Shabnim Ismail and Masabata Klaas. This match demonstrated that South Africa has the potential to defeat New Zealand, but it has struggled to maintain momentum throughout the series. New Zealand has displayed a greater degree of consistency throughout the series, particularly in the middle overs (7-16), which is where most T20I matches are won.

This discrepancy between the two teams ultimately explains why many believe that New Zealand is the more dangerous side overall. South Africa is capable of delivering heavy counterattacks for very short periods, but New Zealand possesses a higher level of overall consistency and a more cohesive combination of stability in the top order (Devine) and control over the run-scoring (Kerr).

Amelia Kerr has emerged

Amelia Kerr has emerged as New Zealand’s most dependable player throughout the series with 171 runs in four innings, including 78 in the first match and another steady contribution in the Wellington match. However, her consistency is even more significant than her overall total because she is the one New Zealand player who can keep the innings moving after stalling briefly.Devine has led New Zealand’s comeback into this series due in large part to her performance.

Devine has achieved 156 runs at 52.00, has taken seven wickets including a career-best 4/12 in her first match, and also scored back-to-back game-winning innings of 55 and 64 in her final two T20I games. In a format that rewards and favours captains for having only one superb specialist, Devine stands as a true 19th/20th century all-rounder – fixing two issues in the very same game.

Adding to Devine’s performance

Adding to Devine’s performance is Jess Kerr, with her eight wickets taken in four matches. In Wellington, Kerr’s most impressive performance of 3/16 gave a huge advantage to New Zealand – they took good lengths early, enforced no free runs late, and did not panic when Dercksen was going on the swing. With this sort of composure you can allow New Zealand to bat with a much clearer picture while chasing.

For Indian audiences, this type of T20 setup appears to provide the safest overall chance leading into a knockout game. One player will be responsible for helping the team through the middle stages of the innings; one player will be able to get them started early in their chase; and one fast bowler will ensure that nothing gets out of control. This triplet of contributors is of major value in women’s T20 cricket.

New Zealand’s batting depth

New Zealand’s batting depth makes them that much harder to dismiss.

Georgia Plimmer scored 63 in the first match; she certainly helped New Zealand get off to a fast start. Suzie Bates returns to the squad that contained Amelia Kerr, Devine, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Izzy Gaze and Izzy Sharp; all of these players can add to the success of the team. Even with all of this, the White Ferns have had enough dependable batting to avoid the one collapse that South Africa is working so hard to achieve. The overall strength of the squad demonstrates this.

The New Zealand Women’s cricket team augmented Julia Bates, Sophie Devine, Lizelle Plimmer, and Flora Devonshire to the team ahead of this T20I series, with Lea Tahuhu and Flora Devonshire returning to the squad later during the T20I series as part of rotational plans. This has provided the New Zealand Women’s team with a more extensive base of veteran talent than South Africa has been able to assemble for this tour.

This wider pool of experience has been evident in significant instances. Judy Gaze has been exceptional under pressure at the top of the order, Jess Green has handled the pressure of closing out a successful run chase, Anna Halliday has provided a left-handed balance in the batting line-up, and even though Amy Satterthwaite has been the leading run-scorer, there has not been an over-reliance on her. This is a healthy indication heading into World Cup year.

On the other hand, South Africa possesses more explosive upset potential.

On the other hand, South Africa possesses more explosive upset potential.

While these squads are evenly matched, South Africa still has players who pose enough of a credible threat to convert the final match of the series into a genuine contest, beginning with Faye Reyneke, who has amassed 99 runs from 4 innings for an impressive average of 99.00. Reyneke hit three consecutive sixes off the bowling of Sophie Devine in Hamilton, and she has already proven through her debut match against Pakistan that she can influence the outcome of a match with both her bowling and batting.

Also adding significant power to the middle batting order is Lauren Dercksen, who has accumulated 91 runs thus far in the series, and she recently played a career-best innings of 55 runs from only 30 balls in Wellington. Marizanne Kapp scored a quick-fire 53 runs in Hamilton, and Laura Wolvaardt contributed 37 and 43 not out during the middle of the series. Adding to the middle-order threat for South Africa is the continued left-handed power of Chloe Tryon, providing South Africa with a left-handed hitter most teams would prefer to avoid.

The South African core is capable of achieving 155-170 runs which will in return give New Zealand’s bowlers something to think about!

The combination of Khaka and Mlaba has taken the bulk of South Africa’s wickets during this series, with Mlaba taking 6 wickets and Khaka taking 5 wickets in 3 matches, while New Zealand were sitting comfortable at 70/2 in Hamilton when South Africa took control of the match during the middle overs, they will be looking to replicate their performance in Christchurch.

It is no secret that the South African side are a dangerous side, however at this moment in time, the danger South Africa possess feels to be based on phases of play. Whereas New Zealand are dangerous from the first over through to the last over of the innings, South Africa need to put two to three peak spells together during a match in order to be able to compete effectively.

The loss of Marizanne Kapp to her injury and likewise with Dané van Niekerk – who was selected for this tour before sustaining her calf injury, both players provided experience, seam control and lower order run scoring; all of which is sorely missed in the South African line-up and as a result, greater demands have now been placed on Wolvaardt, Brits, Tryon, Khaka and Mlaba to perform on their own.Despite the difficulty faced, South Africa has continued to compete at a high level, and, prior to the New Zealand series, Mandla Mashimbyi’s side beat Pakistan 2-1 in the T20I leg earlier within the tour, however, the New Zealand series has demonstrated how limited of an advantage is gained when you stretch your first-choice senior core players thinly.

There is no shame in this fact. Many teams will appear not only to be without depth but they will be weaker as soon as they lose a player of Kapp’s abilities to that part of the earth. But, when comparing the two teams and trying to determine which of the two rosters appears to be the most dangerous, the depth of a roster means more than anything else. Currently, New Zealand has so many more players with match-winning potential in their team compared to South Africa.

Hagley Oval still has a way

Hagley Oval still has a way to level the playing field

The Hagley Oval does not allow either team to get comfortable. As evidenced by the recent women’s records in Christchurch, Hagley has a great deal of variety in terms of results and styles of match results. For example, New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka in one game after finishing with only 101 runs made, then in the next match beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets after scoring 132 runs themselves in that previous win against Bangladesh. Early matches at Hagley also had New Zealand beating Sri Lanka by more than 100 runs. The variance of results taken together tells you Hagley will reward both quality bowlers at the beginning of an innings equally with good batting at the end of an innings.

Currently, the weather is expected to allow for full play with the first three hours being sunny with clouds developing toward the evening in Christchurch. Therefore, if the weather predicts full play, both teams will be excited to bowl because those types of conditions will favour the quicker-moving seamers and the slow bowling guys who use both cross-seam bowling and cut bowling. New Zealand appears to have an advantage regarding the weather since they have been in good form here in Christchurch.

Therefore, Hagley Oval cannot change the outcome of who has the stronger roster when compared to one another. Rather, Hagley Oval creates a scenario to reduce the disparity between the two teams’ rosters.If South Africa wins the first six overs using bat or ball, then New Zealand will not be able to rely on the venue for support. However, New Zealand’s players still need to perform well to secure a win at the end of the match. Below is a detailed breakdown of the various players who could affect each team’s chances of winning.

New Zealand

Devine is perhaps New Zealand’s most significant player in terms of pressure. As such, the fact that she has been able to approach her last two innings in a composed manner indicates that she is making excellent use of her timing. Amelia Kerr is another player that South Africa must look out for, as New Zealand’s best chance of winning will come from getting her out early in any innings. Finally, Jess Kerr would be the bowler most likely to convert a score of 45 runs without loss after the first six overs into a score of 60/2 after eight overs.

South Africa

In terms of pressure and control, Reyneke is by far the most dangerous South African player. Her batsmanship has completely transformed the way two of South Africa’s innings have been played and introduced a level of late-game chaos (a positive kind of chaos) that New Zealand is still figuring out how to address. Mlaba is South Africa’s most consistent control bowler, Khaka is the pressure bowler for the team, and Dercksen will be the batter most likely to take an already healthy score of 120/4 to 160 or more quickly.

In the end, Wolvaardt may have the biggest single innings of the match. To date, Wolvaardt has yet to completely dominate any of the series; however, she is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s best players and South Africa will require a dominant top order innings if they are to reduce the disparity between the two teams. If she produces a dominant top order innings in Christchurch, it will quickly close the gap between the two teams.Conclusion

It appears that New Zealand has the upper hand

It appears that New Zealand has the upper hand going into this final in Christchurch, with the better run/game/match spread, better wicket spread and cleaner profile of recent successful chasing, and a more balanced mix of stars and supporting players. There is enough bite in South Africa’s squad to give them a fighting chance in the final but, looking at all aspects of New Zealand’s performance for this series and the earlier parts of the tournament, new Zealand have more strength in depth at the moment.

That does not mean that South Africa cannot win. It is just that their winning script seems to be a bit narrower. They must rely on Khaka and Mlaba to take down the Devine-Kerr partnership before hoping to have Brits, Wolvaardt, Reyneke and/or Dercksen turn a good score into a challenging chase. However, New Zealand can still win the championship match even if one of these key players struggles or fails, while South Africa simply do not have that luxury.

Key Takeaways

• New Zealand currently hold a 3-1 lead in the series, following their 80-run victory, then successful successful chases of the 150s and 160s, showing that they can win matches with more than one method of attack.
• In terms of runs scored in the series, Amelia Kerr ranks first with 171, Sophie Devine has scored 156 and taken 7 wickets in the series, while Jess Kerr leads the overall wicket table with 8 wickets.
• South Africa have some impressive individual threats, including Kayla Reyneke has made 99 runs with a strike rate of 99.00, Nonkululeko Mlaba took 6 wickets in this series, Ayabonga Khaka has taken 5 wickets in only 3 games, and Annerie Dercksen has scored 55 not out in the Wellington win.
• New Zealand’s overall squad depth appears stronger as they had Bates, Devine and Plimmer return for the series and have longer optioned players like Tahuhu and Devonshire available in the larger group.
• Both low scores and clean chases have occurred at Hagley Oval in the previous women’s T20Is. Therefore, the first 6 overs are likely to define the outcome of the final far more than an overall pitch rating.

Final Thoughts

So, the answer is clear cut: New Zealand has the edge going into the final game against South Africa on Friday, with the most rounded squad, the most options for constructing a winning strategy, and greater overall control of the match. While South Africa is only a hot spell of bowling away from changing the complete pitch of play—if Khaka and Mlaba can slow runs down, and Reyneke and Dercksen cash in late after checking on a Wolvaardt start—Christchurch will still be very noisy. However, overall, New Zealand has the more skilled and complete team going into the championship game.