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The greater the risk the bigger the reward is the mindset the White Ferns have adopted as they prepare for one of their biggest challenges this season. New Zealand begin a three-match T20 series against world number one Australia on Thursday night. The series is part of the build up to next month's T20 World Cup in the UAE.
The White Ferns arrived in Queensland on an eight-match losing streak and with several players battling niggly injuries. Despite, or maybe because of their underdog status, White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer wanted every decision his players made out in the middle to be the "attacking option" even if it lead to criticism from onlookers. "At times that means we're going make mistakes and it's not going to look great on the scoreboard but that's because we're really trying to push the limits," Sawyer said.
History showed a score of 160 to 170 runs was needed to beat the top nations both during a bilateral series and at the world cup, Sawyer said. "At times when you're striving really hard to do that it can turn a bit nasty sometimes and maybe you end up falling short because you've tried to push the limit but that's how we want to play and we know that's the only way we're going to beat Australia and it's not going to be to play safe and to be conservative so we've got to risk that to get the win." The White Ferns were in the same pool as Australia at the World Cup - a pool Australian captain Alyssa Healy had described as the "pool of death".
Both sides had acknowledged this series which included two matches in the regional Queensland area of Mackay and a finale in Brisbane would be contested with one eye on the global event. Even if the wickets they would play on in Australia bared little resemblance to what they would play on in the UAE. "Maybe where people would bowl in certain situations maybe that mightn't be exactly what is needed on this wicket tonight but it is what we think is going to be important in the world cup," Sawyer said.
"So definitely we've spoken about that we want to give this series a really good nudge but we want to play it in a way that we think is going to suit the world cup so I think we can do both at the same time." New Zealand had focused on varying the shots they played and the deliveries they bowled and Sawyer wanted to see how that translated when the team was under pressure. "Now it's having the courage to be able to put that into practice and to compete.
" Sawyer also wanted the team to be strong in the "effort areas". "How we throw ourselves around in the field, how we run between wickets the little one percenters that we think are going to be important in the subcontinent because I do think the scores over there are going to be a little bit less because they are tough wickets and every run is really going to count over there so it's important that we play that way tonight." Injuries to captain Sophie Devine and bowlers Rosemary Mair and Hannah Rowe were being monitored by the New Zealand team.
A couple of hours before the first T20, Sawyer said Mair and Rowe would definitely miss game one but Devine was a wait and see. All 15 members of the playing squad should be fit for the World Cup according to Sawyer and he expected Mair and Rowe to play before the series with Australia was completed..
