Day 22 Talking Points: Bates has a day out against gritty Pakistan but New Zealand left to rue missed opportunities

Hagley Oval, Christchurch - Match 26

MATCH CENTRE|MATCH REPORT

Suzie Bates hasn’t had her best ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with 79* against Bangladesh her only significant contribution with the bat heading into the clash with Pakistan.

But the veteran opener had a day to remember in what is all but certain to be New Zealand’s final match at this tournament on home soil, as Bates found her form to notch a fourth ODI ton at World Cups and 12th overall.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing as Bates had a dismissal overturned on review early in her innings, but once the 34-year-old got going she plundered 14 boundaries and ended with 126 runs off 135 balls.

Bates also became just the fourth woman to pass 5,000 ODI runs but seems set to be left wondering what could have been if more runs flowed earlier at CWC22.

Pakistan have been gallant in defeat in several matches at CWC22 in part due to their batters digging in to use most, and at times all, of their overs against leading teams like Australia and South Africa.

This grit was again on display early in Pakistan’s innings as captain Bismah Maroof (38) and Muneeba Ali (29) patiently worked their way to 47/1 in the 10th over, and especially when Nashra Sundhu and Anam Amin saw out 10 overs for only 20 runs with their team nine wickets down.

Nida Dar was the one Pakistan batter to take a different approach in their final group match, making 50 runs off 53 deliveries that gave her team a brief glimmer of hope but perhaps more importantly showed the next step the team needs to take to progress in the future.

There were high hopes for the hosts at CWC22 but ultimately New Zealand weren’t able to make the most of their opportunities even when in the ascendancy in key matches.

Their inconsistencies were exposed again as the batting line-up led by Bates worked their way into a commanding position multiple times against Pakistan but then gave up wickets too easily.

While the real concern will be with the designated batters, the problem was also highlighted when Jess Kerr and Hannah Rowe were run out in the same over late in the innings.

It will take some unlikely results for the hosts to now make the semi-finals but realistically the gap between their best and worst has been too vast.