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Newsroom.co.nz

Sport

Aiden McLaughlin

Our champion White Ferns look to rock the world again

Suzie Bates Melie Kerr White Ferns England Jess Kerr Izzy Gaze Sophie Devine Georgia Plimmer Lea Tahuhu World Cup

For the White Ferns, it’s not a case of defending their T20 World Cup title in England, it’s about going out there and winning it again.

Their unexpected success in Dubai in 2024 may have given the squad and management an extra belief that they could win the sport’s pinnacle events, but the women’s game around the world has moved on at pace since then. Melie Kerr and her troops know that they’ll need to be better in all facets of the game if they’re going to be holding the trophy again at Lord’s on July 5.

So far in 2026, they’ve had series wins at home against Zimbabwe and South Africa, before drawing an ODI series and losing a T20 series 2-1 away in England. Now, just two warm up matches against Bangladesh (June 7) and South Africa (June 10) remain before their first match of the World Cup against the West Indies on June 14.

Here, we look at some of the key factors that will determine whether the tournament will be a success this time around.

Captain Kerr

It’s hard to believe that Melie Kerr is still only 25.

With previous skipper Sophie Devine stepping down as captain after last year’s 50-over World Cup, Kerr was the hot favourite to take over, and when she was officially named as Devine’s successor, she had already represented her country in 172 international matches.

Against Zimbabwe and South Africa, she was at her best, dominating with the bat in particular. In the T20I’s, her 101 not out against Zimbabwe was bettered with an incredible 105 off just 55 deliveries in Christchurch against South Africa.

In the 50 over format against the same opposition, her unbeaten 179 at the Basin Reserve helped the White Ferns to the highest successful run chase in women’s ODI history.

She’s had a lean run in the most recent games against England, but Kerr is a player for the big occasion. A deep thinker on the game, can she now ensure that the pressure of a World Cup as captain is something she can not only cope with, but excel at as well?

New Zealand with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Trophy as they celebrate after defeating South Africa during the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final in 2024 in Dubai. Photo: Getty Images

The Suzie Bates role

At the last T20 World Cup, there was a settled opening partnership for New Zealand, with Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer leading the way at the top of the order. However, those two haven’t opened the batting together for the White Ferns in this format since March 2025, against Australia.

Injury ruled them both out of the home series against Zimbabwe in February, and although both returned for the five-match series against South Africa the following month, it was Izzy Gaze, who had opened with Melie Kerr against Zimbabwe, that partnered Plimmer.

After scoring 189 runs against Zimbabwe without being dismissed, Gaze has struggled to put big scores on the board against South Africa and England, but at her best, she looks equipped to take advantage of the power play fielding restrictions in the first six overs and help get the side off to a strong start.

Bates, who has scored the most T20 international runs in the history of the women’s game (4,720 at an average of 28.78 and a strike rate of 108.35), played in four of the five matches, but only batted once (at number eight) in a new all-rounder role. She bowled a total of eight overs across those four games. Prior to the series, she talked about her new position in the side.

“To be honest, that’s sort of probably given me an extra bit of motivation,” Bates said.

“When you’ve been doing something for so long, you can get a little bit complacent and go about your business the same way. But being given that message and real clarity around it, I’ve almost rebirthed myself at 38.”

“I love bowling, so the fact that that’s part of my role, and to bat in the middle order, it’s exciting. Everyone wants to bat at the top, and I’ve been fortunate enough to do it for a very long time.”

After being left out of the final match of the South Africa series, Bates returned for the first game against England, where she didn’t bat (Jess Kerr came in above her at eight). She only bowled one over, before making way again in the second game.

Since Plimmer’s 63 against South Africa in the first match of that T20 series, her scores have been 1, 4, 29, 27, 0 and 0, and on the back of that run of form, Bates returned in the third game against England to partner Gaze. Bates made just three off 11 balls, before falling to former Otago teammate, Linsey Smith. With the White Ferns only making 80 runs in total, her bowling wasn’t needed in the 14 overs England took to secure victory.

After the England series, Ben Sawyer was asked what the plan was for the opening partnership, when the tournament starts.

“I don’t know to be perfectly honest. We’ve looked at Georgia and Izzy and in the past year they’ve had some really good strike rates. We’ve had decent partnerships up top, obviously Melie’s been a part of that as well (against Zimbabwe).”

“We wanted to have a look at Suzie today. The pleasing part is in the last couple of years we’ve built a little bit of depth. Going to the last World Cup, we probably weren’t able to make changes much to the batting order, but now we’re able to look at different combinations, so we’ll look at it again in the two practice games and settle on something for the first match.”

Since the 2024 T20 World Cup, Bates has scored 21, 47, 31, 14, 12, 7, 1 and 3 in the format. But class is permanent and with the 38-year-old having already announced that the end of this tournament will see the end of her international career, will Kerr and Sawyer bring her back to the opener role she knows so well? The alternative will surely see Bates play no more than a bit part role, as the curtain comes down on her time with the White Ferns.

Middle order consistency

With uncertainty about who will open, the opposite is true in positions three to seven. Melie Kerr, Sophie Devine, Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green and Izzy Sharp are locked in.

Devine, who will retire from international cricket after the World Cup, showed she’s as good as ever against England, hitting 45 off 22 balls in the first game, before smashing 87 off 57 balls just three days later, in a 159-run stand with Green, who made 56 over 48 balls.

Although Halliday’s best form has been in the 50-over format (she has recent scores of 98 against South Africa and 42 not out against England), the left hander is certain to slot in at five and Green is showing arguably the best, most consistent form of her 15-year international career at six.

Since making her debut in March last year against Sri Lanka, Sharp has been trusted with the ‘finisher’ role and has played in 14 of the side’s last 17 T20I’s, batting 10 times. In six of those 10 innings, she’s been not out at the end and impressively, every time she’s batted, she’s had a strike rate of 100 or more.

Bowling options aplenty

The White Ferns are blessed to have strong, experienced bowling options in Melie Kerr and Sophie Devine, and given those two are guaranteed their spots as batters, it provides flexibility further down the order. Jess Kerr’s ability to swing the ball, alongside her improved batting in the last couple of seasons, should see her lock down a spot; whether that’s at eight or nine depends on if/where Bates lines up. Then, Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Nensi Patel and Bree Illing will be battling it out for the remaining two positions.

Right armed spinner Patel has come on well with ball in hand this year, and despite a high profile dropped catch in one of the ODI’s against England, it’s unfair to judge her on that – she’s a livewire in the field. If Bates is considered as an effective spin option, will that squeeze Patel out?

Mair, who was selected for the T20 World Cup team of the tournament of the year in 2024, has had more than her fair share of injuries throughout her career, but when she’s fit, she looks indispensable.

That leaves Tahuhu and Illiing. Right armer Tahuhu has the experience, and is a formidable opponent, as competitive as ever with the Fern on her chest. Left armer Illing is a point of difference and played all three times against England, with Tahuhu appearing just once. Who gets the nod between them could well be on a game-to-game basis, with New Zealand looking at potential match-ups according to their strengths.

Fielding improvements

No fielding performance is ever perfect, but it’s an area of the White Ferns game which has improved massively in recent years under assistant coach Craig McMillan. They clearly out fielded England in their recent encounters and the hard work that the squad has put in is showing. In a tight, must win scenario over the next month, taking their chances and putting opposition batters under pressure could make all the difference.

The squad members

Out of the 15 players to make the World Cup squad, two didn’t play in the T20I’s against England, Flora Devonshire and Polly Inglis. Left arm spinning all-rounder Devonshire is powerful with bat in hand and could easily slot in at eight or nine and score at a strong strike rate towards the end of the innings, alongside a potential point of difference with ball in hand.

Back-up wicketkeeper Inglis has played in nine T20I’s in the last 15 months, but has only been needed to bat three times, with scores of 4, 3 and 0. It’s unlikely she’ll be called upon unless there’s an injury to Gaze.