South Africa hosts New Zealand in crucial ICC Women’s Championship series

South Africa and New Zealand go head to head in a crucial ICC Women’s Championship series starting in Kimberley on Saturday as the qualification race for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 gains momentum.

World champion Australia is the only side to have gained automatic qualification so far, leaving three remaining qualifying places up for grabs. Australia has reached 30 points from 18 matches in the seven-round competition that gives each team 21 matches to play.

While the top four sides will qualify direct for the ICC Women’s World Cup, the bottom four sides will get a final chance of qualification through the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in February 2017.

The West Indies and England, who play against each other later this month are at second and third position, respectively, with 20 and 19 points from 15 matches each. South Africa and New Zealand will fancy their chances as New Zealand is on 16 points and South Africa on 15.

Any side winning the series 3-0 will put itself in a strong position to qualify for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while a 2-1 series win will only enhance its chances of qualifying directly for the pinnacle event in women’s cricket.

New Zealand captain Suzie Bates exuded confidence ahead of the three IWC matches in South Africa, which are part of a seven-match ODI series.

“We know that the first three games are very important in terms of the ICC Women’s Championship, so we have ensured we have come over in plenty of time to adapt to conditions. In saying that, our goal is to win the seven-match series. We couldn’t have asked for better preparation in terms of training facilities before the first match on Saturday,” Bates said about the matches scheduled for October 8, 11 and 13.

Bates, who is ranked second among batters in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Women’s Player rankings, said her team would have to strive to adjust against a fine side.

“We know South Africa are a tough side and we have never played them in a stand-alone series before so we are excited about the opportunity and confident we can perform well over here. No one in our team has ever played in South Africa so we are not sure what to expect,” she said.

Bates said her team had good all-round talent but fielding was a strong point.

“Fielding is something we really pride ourselves in. We have a very experienced top order, which we will be expecting to lead from the front and get us the bulk of our runs. They have some very good players who have been in some good form in the Big Bash and Kia Super League recently but we will be focusing on controlling how we play and executing our plans without focusing too much on individuals in their team,” Bates added.

South Africa’s new captain Dane van Niekerk too said her focus was on the team’s own plans but that she would watch out for Bates, 14th-ranked batter Sophie Devine, 15th-ranked wicketkeeper-batter Rachel Priest and left-arm spinner Morna Nielsen, who is ranked 10th among bowlers.

“Our approach will be pretty simple and that’s sticking to our plans and trying to execute it as best as we can. We are very close on the points table, which will make for a really competitive and exciting series,” said van Niekerk, an all-rounder who is known to impart huge turn with her leg-spin bowling.

Van Niekerk picked former captain Mignon de Preez and the young pair of leg-spinner Sune Luus and batter Laura Wolvaardt among the players to look out for from her team.

“We have so many exciting players in our team and each one has a different skill. I believe our diversity is our strongest point and we pride ourselves in that. I think what could prove crucial is who executes the best on the day,” she said.

Van Niekerk did not see much of a home advantage in the series.

“I have not played here in a while so I will have to see how it looks on the day. If there were any challenges I'd probably say, it is not knowing the conditions too well. We'll have to be able to adapt as quick as possible to the conditions,” she said.

Squads

South Africa squad (TBC):
New Zealand squad: Suzie Bates (captain), Erin Bermingham, Sam Curtis, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Holly Huddleston, Katey Martin, Thamsyn Newton, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu.

Match officials for the series
Umpires: Brad White, Allahudien Palekar, Ryan Hendricks.
Match referee: Dev Govindjee.

ICC Women’s Championship 2014-16

Note – two points for a win, no point for a loss and one point for a no-result

MRF Tyres ICC Women’s Player Rankings (as of 6 October 2016, before the South Africa-New Zealand ODI series)
Batters (top 10)

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 Meg Lanning Aus 820 49.57 834 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
2 Suzie Bates NZ 775! 40.50 775 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
3 Mithali Raj Ind 722 49.54 839 v Aus at Baroda Vadodar 2004
4 Ellyse Perry Aus 693 42.83 725 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
5 Stafanie Taylor WI 690 45.63 765 v Ind at St Kitts (WP) 2012
6 Alex Blackwell Aus 650 35.00 683 v Ind at Canberra 2008
7 Sarah Taylor Eng 640 39.76 803 v Aus at Chelmsford 2009
8 H. Kaur Ind 630 35.57 679 v SA at Bangalore 2014
9 Deandra Dottin WI 583 28.28 650 v NZ at Kingston 2013
10 A. Satterthwaite NZ 577 29.07 653 v Aus at Sydney 2012

Other selected rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11 Trisha Chetty SA 571 32.27 585 v Ire at Malahide 2016
14 Sophie Devine NZ 546 24.91 560 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
15 Rachel Priest NZ 538 30.82 589 v SL at Christchurch 2015
17 Mignon du Preez SA 509 31.91 540 v SL at Potchefstroom 2013
21 Marizanne Kapp SA 446 29.67 539 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
1 Jhulan Goswami Ind 730 21.78 3.18 796 v Eng at Chennai 2007
2 Katherine Brunt Eng 658 22.59 3.36 796 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
3 A. Mohammed WI 638 17.99 3.26 704 v Aus at Sydney 2014
4 Stafanie Taylor WI 606 18.72 3.10 768 v NZ at Kingston 2013
5 Ellyse Perry Aus 588 24.24 4.28 698 v Ind at Mumbai 2012
6 Shibnam Ismail SA 567 19.27 3.53 641 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016
7 Jess Jonassen Aus 546*! 20.80 4.10 546 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2016
8 Jenny Gunn Eng 543 27.80 3.78 693 v Ind at Scarborough 2014
9 Anya Shrubsole Eng 539*! 25.64 4.14 539 v Pak at Taunton 2016
10 Morna Nielsen NZ 532* 26.88 3.68 546 v Ind at Bangalore 2015

Other selected rankings

Rank Player Team Pts Avge Eco Highest Rating
12 D.van Niekerk SA 520* 17.23 3.35 583 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
17 Marizanne Kapp SA 475* 26.30 3.70 533 v Ind at Bangalore 2014
21 Lea Tahuhu NZ 457*! 34.32 4.10 457 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
22 Sophie Devine NZ 448 37.36 4.27 510 v Ind at Sydney 2009
23 E. Bermingham NZ 447* 21.06 4.02 452 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 Stafanie Taylor WI 418 559 v NZ at Kingston 2013
2 Ellyse Perry Aus 407 446 v NZ at Bay Oval 2016
3 Suzie Bates NZ 336! 336 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016
4 Jhulan Goswami Ind 288 308 v Aus at Canberra 2016
5 Sophie Devine NZ 245! 245 v Aus at Bay Oval 2016