Suzy Bates hit eight fours and three sixes with some exceptional shotmaking. Photo / Photosport
Suzy Bates hit eight fours and three sixes with some exceptional shotmaking. Photo / Photosport
Suzie Bates has played a record 169 matches for New Zealand. She ranks her match-winning knock against South Africa as one of the most important innings of her career.
The veteran opener cracked an unbeaten 91 from 64 balls at Edgbaston today, lifting the White Ferns to a13-run win over South Africa in their opening Twenty 20 pool match.
Fourteen years after playing basketball at the Olympics, Bates put on a show in her Commonwealth Games cricket debut, hitting eight fours and three sixes with some exceptional shotmaking, particularly during what she called "party time".
The 34-year-old took 31 from the final two overs to help her side rack up 167-2 after being sent in, showcasing her power and ingenuity to collect what turned out to be crucial late runs.
In reply, South Africa reached 154-7 as the White Ferns earned a vital victory to begin the T20 tournament, putting themselves in a strong position to reach the medal round.
Considering all the context, Bates' proclamation was easy to understand.
This is the debut of women's cricket at the Commonwealth Games. The Whites Ferns began a poor ODI World Cup at home earlier this year with a narrow defeat.
Their early exit from that tournament spurred a coaching change, with Australia assistant Ben Sawyer replacing Bob Carter. And then the team copped some bad headlines by axing Amy Satterthwaite, second on the Ferns' all-time appearance list.
But Bates banished all that with a display of pure hitting that delighted the crowd in Birmingham - and left her considering a new career high.
"I think it's probably one of my most important innings in a tournament for New Zealand," she said. "With what's gone on in the last few months and the World Cup being disappointing, we're so determined to do well here.
"We tried not to talk about it but everyone knew this was a massive game. How we started the World Cup at home against the West Indies with that close loss, we knew we needed to start this tournament well.
"I'm just really proud we could get across the line because we knew how big a game this was in our pool."
With matches to come against Sri Lanka and hosts England, New Zealand now need only one more victory to book a semifinal spot.
(From L-R) Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu and Izzy Gaze celebrate a South African wicket. Photo / Photosport
Their ability to thrive in the medal round will, like at the World Cup, hinge on the key batters atop the order, with Bates and skipper Sophie Devine (48 off 40) putting on 99 for the first wicket today.
Devine then snared three scalps to make it 100 for her T20I career, while Bates took a fine tumbling catch to remove the dangerous Laura Wolvaardt. Once Hayley Jensen ran out big-hitting Chloe Tryon (39 off 17) from her own bowling in the 16th over, victory was essentially secured.
That completed something of a dream day for Bates, who had long been looking forward to playing at such a famed ground.
"I was here when they first announced it was going to be at Edgbaston a few years ago and it was something I put in my calendar that I knew I wanted to be a part of," she said.
"To be out there today and have the crowd and be able to play a few fun shots in a Twenty20 match at a Commonwealth Games was pretty special."
Bates is the only member of the White Ferns with previous experience at a similar tournament, having been part of a Tall Ferns side who won one of five games at the Beijing Olympics. But, she stressed, this was very different.
"I was 19 years old and just there for the experience," she said. "Now it's about medalling."
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