Gaze, Amelia Kerr power New Zealand to series-clinching win
On Friday, February 27, the top order of New Zealand bowled out Zimbabwe for the second time in three days, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead in the three-match WT20I series.
Captain Amelia Kerr was one of the big stories. At one point, she looked like she was going to reach 100, but she got 82 off 52. She outscored Isabella Gaze with a career-high 85* (54 runs), with whom she shared a 159-run partnership in the first game. At 146/0 in 14 overs, New Zealand had hoped for more, but they ended up going 196 for 1.
With opener Georgia Plimmer ruled out, Gaze got a chance to team up with Kerr once more, having played second-fiddle during the skipper's 51-ball ton on Wednesday. The game had been set up for New Zealand by that partnership, and the innings went pretty much the same way.
On either side of the stumps, Zimbabwe's seamers were initially careless. In the first game, Gaze had some timing issues, but on Friday, she took over as the aggressor.
Throughout the Powerplay, Kerr was Gaze's silent partner, sprinting to 14 from 18. She had already racked up eight fours after six overs. Zimbabwe switched to their spinners immediately after the Powerplay ended, but the openers continued to power through without incident, with the exception of a slight dip.
Kerr particularly utilized the sweep to good effect, and both batters made excellent use of their feet. In the tenth over, she finally switched gears with four fours, scoring her sixth consecutive 40+ score in WT20Is. She didn't hit a six during her last hundred, but the only six of the game was an exquisitely flicked six over deep square leg for her second fifty of the series.
She toyed with the field throughout the 14th and 15th over, sweeping both behind and in front of square and also slightly adjusting in her crease to play the inside-out drives over cover. In fact, her brilliance only increased after that: In contrast to their tight ground fielding in the first T20I, Zimbabwe lacked answers and had a poor fielding performance.
Gaze's innings stood out because she started with traditional strokes, used her feet against seamers, played down the ground frequently, challenged leg-side fielders, and ran hard. She only used the reverse sweeps to collect a few boundaries once she was in complete command.
She later stated, "I looked at Melie's play in the first game and looked at aggression at the top of the order." She has so much knowledge and experience to share.
New Zealand appeared to slow down after Kerr left, and Adel Zimunu's flurry of slower balls in the 20th over kept them below 200.
But once again, Zimbabwe were never really in the chase.
They stayed in survival mode after losing Nyasha Gwanzura three balls in. Bree Illing broke through Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano's defenses shortly after. It allowed the hosts to use Nensi Patel's off-spin to complement Jess Kerr's initial swing in the Powerplay itself.
Beloved Biza, the 17-year-old who impressed with her composed 49* performance in the previous match, was unable to really get going, so she foolishly challenged Amelia Kerr off her second ball, which offered a straightforward catch at midwicket.
Even though Zimbabwe scored a few boundaries throughout the innings, they never quite reached the required run-rate. However, unlike the first game, they were unable to extend their defiance beyond 20 innings, with only two batters reaching double digits.
Nensi, who had only played one game, had to wait a long time for her first wicket, getting two drops off her bowling in the 10th over. As they stopped for drinks, her teammates wrapped their arms around her shoulder. After that, her accuracy finally paid off, as she finished with neat scores of 2-11.
On her debut, Seamer Kayley Knight also maintained a tight stump-to-stump channel, returning with a few wickets. Zimbabwe eventually lost steam and collapsed for 86 runs, giving the hosts their second-biggest run win (110) and concluding the series.
