All-round Amelia Kerr commences captaincy tenure in style
Amelia Kerr put on a masterclass in boundary hitting in the first T20I against Zimbabwe Women, smashing a maiden, 51-ball hundred in a clinical 92-run win for New Zealand.
In her first assignment as full-time captain, Kerr got to her hundred off the final ball of the innings, sharing an unbeaten, 159-run stand with wicketkeeper Isabella Gaze.
It was Kerr's fifth 40-plus score in a row in T20Is, a sequence that began with New Zealand's T20 World Cup 2024 final win over South Africa.
Zimbabwe, looking to curb her onslaught, tried as many as eight bowling options, but none could escape Kerr's brilliance, powered less by brute hitting and more by surgical piercing of gaps.
Kerr did not let the tempo drop at any point, hitting 19 fours without clearing the fence once, using her feet with clarity against spinners to unsettle their lines.
At one point, Gaze - playing her first T20I since the 2024 final - struggled with her timing, trying and missing the reverse-sweep on a few occasions. But Kerr smoothly headlined the show, craftily stealing gaps even as Zimbabwe kept their ground fielding tight.
Their one big lapse came in the 14th over, when Kerr, on 45, was dropped at cover by Christabel Chatonzwa off Loreen Tshuma. From that point on, there was no stopping Kerr.
The highlight was the 16th over, when five fours came in a row off Nyasha Gwanzura. That's where Kerr truly showed her range: she hit the first one down the ground, then behind square, and then over square leg's head. Next ball, she adjusted and drilled one through a packed inner circle on the off-side. That was followed by a lap-sweep to the fine-leg fence. She tried it again but only managed a couple.
It set her up for a maiden WT20I century, which finally came off the last ball. It's now the joint fifth-fastest WT20I ton ever, eclipsing Suzie Bates (55-ball ton, 2018) to be New Zealand's best.
Playing second-fiddle for the most part, Gaze herself finished on an unbeaten 50-ball 66, her career-best score.
Zimbabwe could never really get going in the chase, not with the start they had. Off just the second ball, Kelis Ndhlovu was undone by a hooping yorker from Bree Illing. Next over, Jess Kerr snuck one through to clean up Gwanzura.
The 17-year-old Beloved Biza, along with Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, then dropped anchor: their attempt to control damage ensured they survived the Powerplay unscathed, using the seamers' pace to pick up the odd boundary.
But it was impossible to keep Amelia Kerr out of the action. Right after the Powerplay, she dragged Mugeri-Tiripano out of the crease for a stumping. The intensity did not drop: in the 10th over, she dived with an outstretched hand at mid-off to save a boundary.
Biza then found company in skipper Josephine Nkomo, but the required run-rate kept growing alarmingly. It was only by the 16th over that Nkomo tried looking for aerial options.
From the Powerplay until the 16th over, they managed just two boundaries. By then, the required run-rate had climbed up to 28. Kerr returned to account for Nkomo as well, capping off a brilliant all-round day. Zimbabwe could add just two more boundaries, and Biza was eventually left stranded on 49.
It gave New Zealand a 92-run win, and the first for Kerr as full-time captain.
"A T20I hundred doesn't come around too often," Kerr said later. "I thought hitting straight was the best option".
Brief scores:New Zealand Women 202/1 in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 101*, Isabella Gaze 66, Nyasha Gwanzura 1-37) beat Zimbabwe Women 110/4 in 20 overs (Beloved Biza 49*, Josephine Nkomo 25, Amelia Kerr 2-14) by 92 runs.
