The White Ferns immediately find themselves on the back foot after a loss to the West Indies to open their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign.
It was the first time the sides had met since the semi-final of the T20 World Cup in 2024, when the Ferns won by eight runs to guarantee their place in the final.
But this time, it was Hayley Matthews’ side who kept their nerve to complete the second-highest chase in T20 World Cup history, knocking off the target of 163 with a ball to spare.
It was the West Indian captain who won the toss and put New Zealand into bat, on a good surface; Her counterpart Melie Kerr was happy with that, saying she would have batted first as well, on the occasion of her 100th T20 international.
New Zealand left almost 600 games of international experience on the bench, with Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu carrying drinks alongside Flora Devonshire and Polly Inglis, whilst the West Indies were also missing two of their big names, with opener Stafanie Taylor and vice-captain Chinelle Henry out through injury.
Izzy Gaze and Georgia Plimmer had a solid opening stand of 49 before Plimmer, who faced 11 balls, was dismissed at the end of the sixth over, having scored eight.
It was the start of a three-wicket burst by Aaliyah Alleyne, who captured Gaze and Kerr in her next over, to leave the Ferns 56-3 and needing to rebuild their innings.
Sophine Devine and Brooke Halliday were able to steady the ship, with a 45-run partnership and when Devine was dismissed for 22 off 15 balls, it was Maddy Green (35 not out) alongside Halliday (40) , who did most of the work in taking New Zealand to what looked like a competitive total of 162-6 off their 20 overs.
But then, things started to unravel, as a wasteful fielding performance went from bad to worse, and then, even worse than that.
That was despite them being gifted their first wicket, as a terrible mix up between Matthews and her opening partner Qiana Joseph, saw Joseph hopelessly stranded as she was run out in just the second over.
But from there Matthews, and wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle took advantage of numerous dropped catches, missed stumping opportunities and general tardiness by the White Ferns in the field to keep their side within touching distance of the required run rate.
Matthews was first dropped when she was on nine, and went on to make 48 off 37 deliveries, as the White Ferns effort became farcical at times. Campbelle, playing in her 155th T20 international, had never reached 50 before, and proceeded to have her day in the fading Southampton sun, smashing seven fours and three sixes on her way to an unbeaten 90 off 62 balls.
Kerr’s side can take something small from the fact they took the match to the last couple of balls, but it should never have got to that stage, and Devine was faced with the thankless task of trying to pull off a miracle in the final over, when Campbelle and Jahzara Claxton needed just four to pull off a famous victory.
Afterwards, Kerr made no excuses for the errors made in the field.
“It’s a tough day at a really important game for us at a World Cup. I guess our bowlers are creating the opportunities, but unfortunately, we weren’t taking them. There were too many chances put down, and it hurt us a lot.
“I think we stayed in the game and we stayed in the fight, despite dropping chances and not quite executing in the field, but I thought the way Campbelle played, it was a brilliant innings. Her ball striking ability, especially, and I think also the running between the wickets, the ability to turn ones into twos as well. They outran us, and they out fielded us today.”
With six teams in their group (England, Scotland, Ireland and Sri Lanka are the others), and only the top two qualifying for the semi-finals, the White Ferns may well have to win all their remaining games to advance to the last four. If they don’t, they’ll certainly be relying on other results or weather intervention to make the knock-out matches.
The White Ferns stay in Southampton for their next two matches, and Sri Lanka will be their opposition on Wednesday morning New Zealand time.
Sri Lanka are ranked number seven in the world, one place below the West Indies and three behind New Zealand. They played in the first match of the tournament against a rampant England team who piled on the highest score at a women’s T20 World Cup, 219-1, before bowling Sri Lanka out for 132.
A lot will depend on Sri Lanka’s inspirational captain, Chamari Athapaththu, who is ranked as the number nine T20 batter in the world, one spot behind Melie Kerr.
Nothing less than a win will do for New Zealand however, as they look to regroup. For Kerr, it’s about being honest with themselves and getting back on the horse, quickly.
“There was still some really good stuff that we can take out of that game,” she said.
“I thought Maddie at the end, the way she finished with the bat, Jess [Kerr] and Rosemary [Mair] with the ball as well. You’ve got to take the positives, but we do have to have a look at what we didn’t do well, and we can be sad tonight, we can be disappointed, but then come tomorrow we’ve got to turn up and be better, and look forward, because there’s still plenty of games to come.”
T20 World Cup schedule (Group 2 – NZT)
Match 2 v Sri Lanka – Wednesday 17 June 1.30am – Southampton
Match 3 v Ireland – Saturday 20 June 5.30am – Southampton
Match 4 v Scotland – Tuesday 23 June 9.30pm – Bristol
Match 5 v England – Sunday 28 June 5.30am – The Oval
All matches will be live on Sky Sport
