The White Ferns will be very pleased the drizzle eased and the light held for long enough to squeeze in a truncated Women’s World Cup match against Bangladesh in wet and gloomy conditions in Dunedin yesterday.
The visiting side posted a competitive tally of 140 for eight from 27 overs.
But Otago’s Suzie Bates, who had waited her entire career to play an international in Dunedin, and Melie Kerr combined in a rollicking undefeated second-wicket stand of 108.
Bates clipped 79 from 68 much to the delight of a small and socially-distanced crowd.
She brought up 1000 World Cup runs with a blazing cover drive.
Kerr played some sparkling shots in her knock of 47. She also hit the winning runs through point for a boundary.
New Zealand batted well enough that it was always going to overhaul the target.
The only question was would the rain stay away and the light hold.
That proved more than adequate motivation to keep the accelerator pedal firmly under foot, Bates said.
"I was, to be honest, looking at Duckworth-Lewis quite a bit because the drizzle just sort of hung around and it was getting darker," she said.
"So we just talked about getting to the 20th over and to make sure we made a game of it because I thought the skies could open up at any point.
"Thankfully, Dunedin held off."
Had the game been abandoned, the teams would have shared the two competition points on offer.
That would have been a devastating blow for the home team.
Its three-run loss to the West Indies in its opening game of the tournament has left the White Ferns vulnerable.
Dropping another point against Bangladesh would have made their position perilous.
But it was not all ice teas and cucumber sandwiches, though.
The White Ferns struggled to get the wet ball near the target or on a decent length early.
There were a couple of bold shots, but mostly the Bangladesh opening pair of Shamima Sultana and Fargana Hoque were presented with opportunities to swing away a series of boundaries during the powerplay.
Too short. Too wide. Too short and wide.
"I’m not sure what was going on there," Bates said.
"We didn’t hit our lengths. The bowlers knew they had to be fuller at the start, but I think maybe just [lacking] a little bit of confidence in their run-up."
The visiting team had reached 50 by the end of the seventh over.
The home team was forced to switch tactics.
On came the spinners and they changed the complexion of the game.
Kerr bowled a couple of tight overs and Frankie Mackay achieved the important breakthrough. Shamima Sultana tried to hoof it to midwicket but got under it and Lea Tahuhu took the catch behind square.
Amy Satterthwaite was tossed the ball and bingo — the part-time offie struck twice in her opening gambit.
Nigar Sultana got a faint edge and Rumana Ahmen failed to connect with a swipe and was bowled. Satterthwaite finished with three for 25.
All the pressure had been transferred to the batters.
Hoque, who had slipped through to 52, was run out sensationally by Mackay.
The batter had edged out of her crease and the bowler took a cheeky shy at the stumps and caught her opponent short by a tiny margin.
It was the first in the flurry of late run outs.
-- ADRIAN SECONI
