New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women 5th T20I Preview

The 5th and final T20I match between the New Zealand Women’s cricket team and South Africa Women’s cricket team, scheduled to take place at Hagley Oval on March 25, 2018, will be played to determine Team Combinations before the ODI Tournament begins. New Zealand has already captured the Series by a score of 3-1. Thus, this last match of the T20I Series is more important in terms of the confidence and tone of both Teams when they embark on the ODI portion of the Series.

For the New Zealand Women, the story is straightforward. Their opening batsmen have scored heavily at the top of the batting order, their experienced all-rounders have controlled the middle overs, and their fast bowlers have made it difficult for South Africa to establish itself long enough to gain any momentum, especially during the T20I matches.

On several occasions throughout the Series, the South Africa Women have shown that they are capable of scoring runs; in particular, South Africa posted 177 for 5 in Hamilton earlier in this Series. In addition, South Africa’s Finishers have scored significantly in the final overs of matches through Kayla Reyneke and Annerie Dercksen. However, they have been unable to demonstrate 20 Over Control throughout the 5 T20I Matches. Therefore, the match between New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women will have greater significance than most T20I matches.

The weather forecast for Christchurch on match day indicates mild and partly cloudy conditions at the start of the match, with a greater likelihood of cloudier conditions developing later in the day. In addition, the condition of the Hagley Oval pitch is usually very close to ideal for seamers at the start of the match due to the presence of grass and because of the fact that the fresh (new) ball provides a significant amount of movement through the air, until the pitch becomes more settled later in the match.

Analysis

New Zealand is the stronger of the 2 Teams on a number of different criteria, including, but not limited to: The overall T20I Series has been closer than the final score of 3-1 would indicate; New Zealand won the 1st T20I by 80 Runs; New Zealand absorbed South Africa’s strong performance in Hamilton during the 2nd T20I; New Zealand chased down totals of 150 and 160 in the 3rd and 4th T20Is with 6 wickets remaining to win each match.There’s evidence that shows consistent plan for innings, thus stable plans as opposed to sporadic processes based on their approaches in playing batting and bowling.

The biggest change since the start of the tournament is the contribution from the two main batters (organisation and team) Amelia Kerr has made an impact to this transformation by scoring 78 off 44 balls during the first match, following this with 140 across the opening three matches. Amelia contributed 31 in the fourth match played in Wellington.

Sophie Devine has also provided senior players with consistency by scoring 92 runs and taking six wickets during the early stages of this series, and after the first three matches, went on to add 64 runs off 34 balls and a further wicket in her next. These two senior players have provided New Zealand’s batting group with a clear direction about their position on the batting order, as Georgia Plimmer produced 63 in the first match and 29 in her most recent match; Isabella Gaze was able to help the team bat through the opening three overs; whilst Brooke Halliday and Maddy Green were both able to perform to a reasonable standard, without having to perform as frantic rescue operations in their respective chases by completing five overs or less during the last two runs they were chasing.

When viewed through the lens of India’s women’s cricket team, this looks very much like a settled, IPL-style role definition in that the first four batters will chase the opening ten overs down aggressively; the next three batters will remain calm without panicking, or will keep the team under pressure through the middle overs of the match while maintaining enough pressure on the score for all to chase score without noise/noisemaking.

Why South Africa can still threaten their opposition

South Africa has played very well during this series; going back to Hamilton, South African cricketers put together an excellent batting performance with Tazmin Brits scoring 53; Laura Wolvaardt scoring 41 not out; and Reyneke scoring 28 not out; finishing with a team total of 177 for 5 in 20 overs.The innings from New Zealand still stand as the ‘perfect example’ for South Africa – batting through to the middle before starting to hit out after the 16th over.

Even when South Africa have been beaten they have still demonstrated some power towards the end of their innings; for example, Reyneke’s not-out of 34 in Auckland, and Dercksen’s 55 not out in Wellington, indicate that New Zealand have not necessarily put to rest those late-inning concerns particularly as the ball enters its later stages of wear and tear and lengths are likely to drift.

South Africa’s problem, however, has come primarily from the first portion of their innings; while Wolvaardt has shown glimpses of some level of composure, whilst Brits has proven that she is capable of producing solid contributions via fifties herself, it has been a long time since two more of South Africa’s top order have batted deep into an innings since Hamilton – which is a problem when combined with New Zealand bowling pace during the innings, and thereby having essentially too much work to do in the final five overs.

South Africa have had periods of good bowling also – Nonkululeko Mlaba took the first T20I wickets of Amelia Kerr, and then took her out again in the second and third T20I. Chloe Tryon added two wickets in Wellington and has provided South Africa with some good questions with her pace off their bowling than during their previous matches.

Probable XI for New Zealand Women versus South Africa Women 5th T20I

New Zealand are likely to be almost the same team which played the last match in Wellington;The New Zealand women’s cricket team has a solid and well-balanced squad for the T20I series against South Africa. Lea Tahuhu played in the last two T20I matches as part of a planned squad rotation, and there were no new injury concerns for the core group of players. Therefore, there is little reason for the White Ferns to change the combination of players that have provided balanced new bowlers, depth in batting, and two strong options with bowling.

The only area to debate is the bowling attack. If New Zealand wants to include another spinner in addition to their first choice, Nensi Patel could be a candidate (based on performance), but the fact that Hagley Oval would appear to strongly favour pace and with Leah’s return makes it unlikely that they will select more than one or two spinners. Both Jess Kerr and Rosemary Mair have shown that they should be trusted with the ball, while Suzie Bates gives the captain a seam option in case the situation dictates match-ups.

Like New Zealand, South Africa has a lot of moving parts. Initially set to tour, Dane van Niekerk was a member of the touring party but was subsequently withdrawn from the tour due to a calf injury, and Anneke Bosch was named as her replacement. In the previous match between South Africa and New Zealand, the final XI for each team saw the inclusion of Karabo Meso and Masabata Klaas, and that group should be a reasonable wager to start again barring a desire by South Africa to regain the control provided by Ayabonga Khaka in the powerplay overs.

This is not an assured choice.Sinalo Jafta and Khaka are two players who could potentially get given time in a game like this, which is going to feel like a big final in its own right as far as amount of importance attached to it when South Africa took the field against Wellington XI in preparation for this match.

Key player-to-player battles

The match will be made or broken by a key couple of individual rivalries, and here are three key player-to-player battles that could alter their performances through the match.

First up to face each other are Sophie Devine and Mlaba. Devine has already proved she can perform on the big stage in her last two chases (55 not out & 64), while Mlaba has established the cause of Devon’s demise already in this series with her dismissals of Amelia Kerr x2 and Devine once herself (primarily has used the “ask the right-handed batsmen to hit the ball across her angle as opposed through it”).

In the second battle of the day, Wolvaardt versus Jess Kerr will have a substantial impact upon the match outcome as well. Wolvaardt’s biggest score in the series thus far is 41 not out (50% of her runs) and she has looked flowing during her innings of 37 in Auckland, and Jess Kerr’s use of the new ball is making it seem like virtually none of the runs are available by that time of the day. After having established herself as a very good wicket-taker in her first three games, which totalled five wickets, she continued adding to her tally during today’s match against Wellington XI adding (3 wickets in advance of it).

Finally, there are Reyneke and Dercksen (from the South Africa side) versus Tahuhu, Mair and Devine (from the New Zealand side). This wicket-taking action for the South Africans has mostly taken place after the 40th over of the game (i.e. all but 2 of Reyneke’s 28 (9) runs, 34 (20) not out runs and 55 (32) not out runs) accounted for theirImportant team stats

Important team stats

When reviewing any stat of an entire series, the simplest series number will be the strongest stat. New Zealand have scored the following across their four innings: 190, 159, 152 and 160. This means that New Zealand have broken the 150 break every time. In comparison, South Africa have scored 110, 177, 149 and 159. Therefore, in terms of South Africa’s wins they have won in the single match that has had their score over the 150 count.

For the up and coming 5th T20 match between New Zealand Women and South Africa Women, the result should hinge on one number. If South Africa continues with a score of high 160’s (runs) the match is a competitive. If South Africa scores a score of mid 140’s to low 150’s (runs), New Zealand has already exhibited their ability to chase those scores with margin.

New Zealand batted by their team leader Amelia Kerr, who had 140 runs after three innings and added 31 runs in her fourth innings. Devon is just behind her in bat and impact, and her three-dimensional role in T20 series may make her the most valuable player of the series.

South Africa’s organization of their batting appears more spread out from other than New Zealand’s batting, with four players showing their abilities to score significantly in one innings; however, they have not been able to string together their performances (multiple great innings). In T20, the difference between isolated destruction and maintainable control tends to be the entire difference in the game.

In regards to their bowling, New Zealand has a quicker and sharper edge over South Africa. Jess Kerr found her strike in Wellington, Devon had impeccable bowling with 4 for 12 in the first game of the series, and the combination of Bates, Amelia and Halliday as match up overs (players who bowl in given situations) gives the White Ferns more options on all three phases of an innings.South Africa has placed a lot of emphasis on the combinations of MLabai, Khaka [who Played in Hamiton] and Tryon [who played in Wellington]; however, the two teams attacking have not been able to maintain consistent pressure for a collective total of 20 overs on either of the two previous venues of play.

How Hagley Oval will affect both teams

How Hagley Oval will affect both teams

Hagley Oval is not a venue that promotes reckless or aggressive play from one . Christchurch generally requires that batsman earn the first 20 runs, plus the forecast varies, indicating a milder than anticipated afternoon, before an increase in cloud cover later on. Both teams would be well-served to use a power-play plan that takes advantage of any movement rather than attempting to batter their opponents into submission.

The New Zealand structure would appear to match the conditions of the pitch more closely than the South African structure. Gaze and Plimmer each provide the necessary base; they do not need to dominate, however they must complete their innings without losing their wickets, thereby giving Amelia Kerr and Devine the opportunity to continue their dominance throughout the series. South Africa must find a way to get more from Wolvaardt and Brits up front, otherwise, the finishers (as was the case in both venues earlier in the series) will once again be repairing rather than creating.

For the viewership in India, a good comparison would be a side that is already aware of their over map as an IPL club would be in the last week of April. New Zealand understands which players create tempo, which take risks, and which ultimately provide a close. South Africa still have plenty of talent to flip a single game, however, the clarity of the roles of the players has been more apparent on the New Zealand side.The New Zealand Women will face South Africa Women on October 27, 2023 for their fifth and final match of the T20 series in Christchurch, New Zealand. Although the series will already be finalised with a win to either team, the final match will define the attitude of the NZ Women leading into a Global tournament. If New Zealand win the match, they will finish the series with a 4 to 1 victory and prove their ability to prepare for the upcoming global tournament. Should South Africa secure a victory in this match, this would not change the outcome of the tour; however, it would give South Africa a small sense of normality after a very uneven tour of NZ, before they move to the ODI format of the game.

Summary of Important Points

• The New Zealand Women reached their fifth match with a 3 to 1 series lead, having chased down a target of 150 to 160 with 6 wickets left to spare in each of the last 2 matches.
• Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine have had major impacts on the outcome of the series. After three matches, Kerr has accumulated 140 runs and in her last match, scored 31. Devine followed her 3 matches of 92 runs and securing 6 wickets in those matches; and then finished the fourth match with an additional 64 runs off of 34 balls and securing another wicket.
• South Africa’s best chance for a successful outcome is to post a large total of runs in their first innings of the match. South Africa’s only victory thus far has been when they posted a score of 177 for 5 and secured a score of 53 runs from Brits; 41 runs from Wolvaardt; and 28 runs (off 9 balls) from Reyneke.
• Jess Kerr has developed into a dominant weapon for her team with the new ball. She secured 5 wickets in her opening 3 matches and then produced a dominant performance of 3 for 16 in her fourth match, and placed South Africa’s top order (Wolvaardt, Brits, and all of the other top order batsmen) under significant pressure with her early wickets.
• Mlaba remains South Africa’s most dangerous bowler during the middle overs, having recorded the wicket of Amelia Kerr in her 2nd and 3rd matches, and the wicket of Sophie Devine in the 4th match.

Summary

Both teams have established clearly defined roles throughout the series that indicate how they plan to play their respective team games. New Zealand has a very well balanced batting and bowling side, as indicated by their superior record when chasing large totals under pressure. If South Africa can take advantage of their game plan and if Wolvaardt continues to bat well, Mlaba establishes a significant advantage over New Zealand during the middle overs, then South Africa could certainly win this match and avoid a 4-1 series final result. However, with the way the series has been played to date, the New Zealand Women appear to have the upper hand going into the final match and they possess the proven ability to play under pressure which has been an essential element to this series played between the NZ and SA Women.