Suzie Bates rues ‘losing key wickets after a good start’

Losing key wickets after getting off to a good start took the game away from New Zealand in their Twenty20 International tri-series final against hosts England, said Suzie Bates after the seven-wicket defeat on Sunday 1 July.

“It's hard to believe that we lost,” said Bates, who scored a 27-ball 31. “We thought we were prepared really well for this game and obviously been disappointing in the last two (games).”

Batting first, New Zealand were off to a flyer with Sophie Devine and Bates, the openers, adding 55 runs in the Powerplay, but once they were separated, more wickets followed and they were restricted to a paltry 137/9.

“We got off to a really good start in the final with the top of the order, but losing key wickets once we got off to that good start and to keep losing wickets really allowed England to get on top and reduce us to that score, and on that wicket was going to be difficult to defend,” Bates said.

Importantly, while New Zealand beat South Africa both the times they faced off, they had lost both their league-stage games against England, who made it 3-0 with the win in the title round.

The New Zealand captain admitted that her bowlers weren't at their best throughout the series, and hoped for a better performance going into their next assignment – a three-match one-day international series against England.

“I don't think we bowled as well as we could have in the series,” Bates added. “We've been able to create pressure from one end at times, but we know we want some bowling partnerships. So going into this one-day series, I guess to withhold that pressure for a longer stint is what we know we need to do.”

Despite losing the final, Bates was all praise for her batters, especially Devine, who finished the tri-series as the third highest run-getter, with 237 runs from five matches.

“We have a lot of depth. Amy Satterthwaite is one of our best players. Katey Martin in the middle as well and Maddy Green has really impressed,” said Bates. “So in this series, you can say that we were relying on Sophie to score a lot of runs and she got a great opportunity to bat at the top of the order.

“She is certainly one of the most destructive batters in the world. If she is there for longer than 10 overs, then that's certainly going to bring success to us.”

With the ICC Women's World T20 2019 around the corner, Bates is expecting her team to perform as a unit. “As a group, we've been world beaters against teams probably not like England. We have been pretty successful against Australia in Twenty20 cricket. But it (the tournament) does require us to put up team performances and that's what we've been looking forward to.

“The good thing is we've had some really good signs from some of our young players and they have been tested against one of the best teams in the world. Amelia Kerr fought really well. Then Jess Watkins’ performance, even Haley Jensen, she's been a real key for us.”