Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest continued their sublime form as they pummeled the Lankan bowlers in a record breaking opening partnership of 196 at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval earlier today.
Just a week after scoring her maiden ODI century, Priest added to her tally with a splendid 157 off 146 deliveries while Bates missed out on what would have been her 7th ODI hundred when he was bowled by Inoka Ranaweera for 80. Priest has now risen to the top of the ladder in the Women’s Championship run getters list with an impressive 592 runs at an average of 59.
The toss went to the White Ferns and skipper Bates had no hesitation in choosing to bat first, owing no doubt to the fact that her top order seems to be in imperious form. The opening pair started off in steady fashion with the 50 run partnership coming off 75 deliveries. Keeping wickets intact seemed to be their main ploy as they proceeded to score at a steady pace. It was once they reached the 100 run mark that they began to really accelerate; the next 96 runs came off 58 deliveries. Priest surpassed her highest score of 108 but Sri Lanka finally got the breakthrough courtesy left arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera when she dismissed Bates in the 32nd over. Amy Satterthwaite soon followed with the score on 205. A 50 run partnership for the 4th wicket by Sara McGlashan and Sophie Devine saw the White Ferns finish on 326 for the loss of 5 wickets.
New Zealand’s batters established a number of records today:
- New Zealand’s score of 326 was the highest total against Sri Lanka
- The 196 run partnership between Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest was the highest partnership for any wicket against Sri Lanka
- Rachel Priest’s 157 was the highest score by a wicketkeeper and 5th highest score in ODIs
- With two hundreds, Rachel Priest sits alongside Jill Kennare with the most number of centuries in a bilateral series.
Sri Lanka’s bowling was yet again below par; with 6 of the 7 bowlers used going for over 5.8 runs an over. The problem seems to be that key bowlers like Shashikala Siriwadene and Sripali Weerakkody are not picking up wickets, which in turn allows the Ferns to exploit the lesser bowlers.
Sri Lanka would have hoped to at least put up a fight against the formidable Ferns’ bowling attack but any realistic chance of chasing down the total was dashed when Chamari Atapatthu was run out for 16 in the 8th over. The top 5 batters all got starts but were unable to stay in and make the most of the situation and things all went downhill from there, with only Ama Kanchana able to surpass 20 runs. Sri Lanka crawled their way to a disappointing 138 in 41.5 overs; Kanchana remained unbeaten on 28.
Medium pacer Lea Tahuhu and leg spinner Erin Bermingham were the pick of the bowlers for the White Ferns, picking up 5 wickets between them. Satterthwaite chipped in with two late wickets while Bates picked up an early wicket, once again reiterating her status as one of the world’s leading all-rounders.
With the win, New Zealand have accumulated all of the available Women’s Championship points, in this series, and have closed the gap between themselves and leaders Australia and West Indies to just two points. Sri Lanka are currently last in the Championship standings and will have to wait until next year for a chance to improve on it.
New Zealand Women 326/5 (50) (Rachel Priest 157, Suzie Bates 80, Ama Kanchana 2/54)
Sri Lanka Women 138 all out (41.5) ( Ama Kanchana 28,Erin Bermingham 3/26, Amy Satterthwaite 2/5)
New Zealand Women won by 188 runs
