Bates, Kerr shine as White Ferns defeat Sri Lanka

It would be Suzie Bates with both bat and ball alongside Amelia Kerr to carry their side to a 5 wicket win to lead the T20i series 1-0.

White Ferns: Bernie Bezuidenhout, Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Brooke Halliday, Lea Tahuhu, Leigh Kasperek, Eden Carson

Sri Lanka: Chamari Athapaththu, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Hansima Karunaratne, Nilakshi de Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Anushka Sanjeewani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Inoka Ranaweera

Chamari Athapaththu and Vishmi Gunaratne once again opened the batting for Sri Lanka in this white-ball series. Unfortunately for Athapaththu, she was gone first ball, bowled by Eden Carson. In the three ODIs, Athapaththu has either scored 100*+ or got a golden duck! The dismissal of Athapaththu brought Harshitha Samarawickrama to the crease, she and Gunaratne worked well together, hitting a boundary in every over between the 2nd and the 7th. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, Amelia Kerr broke through in the 8th over, removing Gunaratne who looked like she was just getting set, departing for 26 from 28 balls.

This brought Hansima Karunaratne to the crease, but the partnership between her and Samarawickrama only lasted six balls, before Leigh Kasperek took her first wicket. Kasperek was making her first appearance in the national side for nearly two years, after last playing in the New Zealand vs England series in 2021. The wicket of Samarawickrama left Sri Lanka at 41/3 after 8.2 overs. Nilakshi de Silva joined Karunaratne, and the pair tried to add a few runs to the total, to give Sri Lanka the ability to push onto a good score.

Ultimately, the partnership didn’t last long with Karunaratne being given out LBW to Eden Carson, giving Carson her second wicket of the game. At 60/4 after 12 overs, Sri Lanka would need someone in the middle order to step up and add a few runs to their total. Taking 8 runs of Kerr’s next over, showed that de Silva and Kavisha Dilhari were going to try and show some intent. de Silva wouldn’t last much longer, as Suzie Bates got a wicket, with de Silva sending one to Sophie Devine’s hands, leaving Sri Lanka at 68/5.

Leigh Kasperek came back into the attack, and struck on the third ball of the over, with Dilhari falling LBW for 10 from 9 deliveries. Wicket-keeper Anushka Sanjeewani and Oshadi Ranasinghe stuck together to ensure the score ticked along. From the three overs that the pair were at the crease together, they took 5 runs from Carson’s over, 8 from Kasperek’s and 10 from Bates’.

Sanjeewani was run out in the 19th over as she tried to sneak a leg bye, but Halliday was able to underarm it to Bezuidenhout who whipped the bails off. Two wickets fell in the final over, with Udeshika Prabodhani being run out and Ranasinghe being caught and bowled by Amelia Kerr. Sri Lanka finished on 106/9 from their 20 overs, setting Aotearoa New Zealand a target of 107 to win the first T20I.

Bernie Bezuidenhout and Suzie Bates opened the batting for the White Ferns. Bezuidenhout was the first to fall, with Prabodhani taking her wicket for 4 from 11. This meant that Kerr joined Bates at the crease. The pair shared a quality partnership, filled with some good scoring shots to find the boundary.

There were multiple overs in their partnership that they scored more than 7 runs from. Unfortunately for the Kiwi’s they would lose both Kerr and captain Sophie Devine in the same over. Kerr departed for 34 and Devine for 0 with Fernando getting the breakthrough. Maddy Green would join Bates, but Green only lasted 6 balls, before she was out LBW by Fernando. Georgia Plimmer would join Bates, and the pair were left with the task of trying to keep the White Ferns in the game and give them the ability to chase down the rest of the runs.

Thankfully for the White Ferns sake, Plimmer and Bates worked well together, with the score sitting at 103/5 when Bates was out, LBW to Dilhari for 44 from 47. Hannah Rowe and Plimmer were able to get the rest of the runs, giving the White Ferns a 5 wicket win and taking a series lead of 1-0.

POTM - Suzie Bates - 44 (47) and 1-13