Hat-trick helps Melie Kerr break more records for New Zealand

New Zealand skipper Melie Kerr became the third woman from her country and just the 14th ever to pick up an ODI hat-trick as the White Ferns completed an impressive series sweep over Zimbabwe in Dunedin on Wednesday.

Kerr produced another dominant display with both bat and ball, contributing 80 in New Zealand's mammoth total of 303/6 and then collecting a hat-trick and five-wicket haul to put Zimbabwe to the sword at University Oval as the White Ferns registered a mammoth 200-run victory.

The five-wicket effort was Kerr's third in ODI cricket and second for the series following her seven-wicket haul in the second match, while her hat-trick - coming in the 24th over of the run chase when she dismissed Adel Zimunu, Audrey Mazvishaya and Tendai Makusha - was just the third overall by any New Zealand woman and first since Emily Drumm managed the rare feat against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in February 1996.

In total there have been 14 hat-tricks in women's ODI cricket, with Kerr joining England's Charlie Dean (v South Africa in 2024) and South Africa's Chloe Tryon (v Sri Lanka in 2025) as bowlers to have registered three wickets in consecutive deliveries in an ODI contest this decade.

Kerr was unsurprisingly named Player of the Match and claimed the Player of the Series award after she finished the three matches with a total of 140 runs and 16 wickets.

The series between New Zealand and Zimbabwe was part of the ongoing ICC Women's Championship, with the African team added into the competition for the first time as one of 11 competing sides.