Tawa College has gifted the WHITE FERNS a wicket-taking whizzkid — and it would appear to be bad news for Australia’s finest in a Rose Bowl ODI Series that’s going down to the wire.
Wellington leg-spinner Amelia Kerr made her international debut earlier this season at just 16 and, after just six ODIs against Pakistan and now two against Australia, she already has two ODI bags of four.
Calm Kerr took a total of six wickets in her maiden Series against Pakistan with a standout of 4-42; now she has a quality 4-54 against would number ones Australia.
That gave the WHITE FERNS a chance in a tough second ODI at Mount Maunganui on Thursday — the side having to deal with a quickening outfield and uncharacteristically lacklustre fielding performance, not to mention a bunch of fired-up Aussies determined to fight back from being 0-1 down in the famous contest.
Kerr bowled stellar Meg Lanning with just her fourth ball, the Australian captain failing to pick her wrong ’un, Then she put herself on an ODI hat-trick by giving hard-hitter Ellyse Villani the same treatment, sending her back with a golden duck.
While Australia averted the hat-trick, Kerr would come back for opener Beth Mooney (bowled) and finished off by stopping the combative Alyssa Healy, all of which gave the WHITE FERNS a late glimmer of hope, given Ellyse Perry was injured and unlikely to bat.
But the proud Australians have dominated Rose Bowl encounters through the decades, and weren’t about to let anything get in the way of the finish line after having put the WHITE FERNS in that morning and later capitalising against their errors in the field.
The WHITE FERNS are attempting to wrest the silver trophy from their grasp for the first time since 1999. And, now that the Series is level 1-1, the focus is on avoiding a repeat of last year’s scenario in which Lanning’s Aussie smashers stormed back from 0-1 down to claim the Series 2-1, the world-class skipper leading the way with two centuries in a fascinating head-to-head battle with Suzie Bates, who matched her with a century in the same match at Mount Maunganui.
Kerr was still in school when all that was going down, yet in the space of a year she has not only debuted successfully for the WHITE FERNS in both white-ball formats, but found herself being talked about already as a player who is going to have an important influence over the exciting side for years, even decades, to come.
Suzie Bates rates her young spinner's composure under pressure. PHOTOSPORT
“What I’ve learnt about Amelia is that there is no such thing as pressure to her, she just wants the ball,” says WHITE FERNS captain Suzie Bates with a warm smile. “She’s going to be a massive star for us.”
Kerr came on in the 20th over at Bay Oval on Thursday to break the fast-growing second-wicket stand between Lanning and opener Mooney.
“I probably left her introduction into the attack a little bit late,” says Bates in retrospect — though she was delighted to see the youngster rip out her variations to claim four of the biggest names in Australian cricket, all by herself — bowled, bowled, bowled and then a caught and bowled.
Bates is not shy about admitting where the team fell short as they dust themselves off and prepare to stand up in the Rose Bowl decider at the same ground, Bay Oval, in Mount Maunganui this Sunday.
“We’ve just got to be good for 100 overs,” Bates said plainly. “This Australian side is not just going to fold up and go away, it’s always going to be a real battle, so we’ve got to lift our fielding, debrief well and train well for Sunday.”
Entry to the 11am match is free and if you’re not in the Bay of Plenty you can watch Bates, Kerr and the team on our free livestream, complete with Radio Sport commentary, here.
