Series Preview: Tri-series gives early chance to prove World T20 credentials

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Jamie Ramage
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Series Preview: Tri-series gives early chance to prove World T20 credentials

England and South Africa will be joined by the White Ferns for the T20 Tri-series. ©England Cricket

The Vitality T20I tri-series between England, South Africa and New Zealand is set to be an interesting series, with this likely to be the final t20 games that these teams play before they fly out to the Caribbean, there is a lot riding on this series.



 



The Captains



The captains that will lead the sides during this tri-series, are three of the best. Heather Knight for England, Dane van Niekerk for South Africa and Suzie Bates for New Zealand.



If anything, Knight is the most low key of the three. She is a captain that gets the best out of her players. She is, of course, in the team on merit, but she has some exceptional players around her that her own efforts go unnoticed occasionally.



Bates and van Niekerk are two captains that lead from the front. Both all-rounders, they play a pivotal role in making sure their sides run smoothly. They both run their sides with a coolness and are rarely fluster and make important contributions with both bat and ball.



 



The Batters



There are some big hitting batters in this competition, who will relish the relatively small boundaries at the three venues to be used.



England’s top-order is one of the most thrilling to watch, when they all come off. Danni Wyatt has proven she is a quality player opening the batting. Opening with Tammy Beaumont, and followed by Sarah Taylor and Nat Sciver, runs are almost guaranteed.



South Africa have already shown in the recent ODI series that they have two players that are willing to take risks and score big. Lizelle Lee is in great form, and having played in the Kia Super League at Taunton before, will fear no one. Chloe Tryon is the other, the all-rounder has one of the best strike-rates in women’s cricket, and if she gets the opportunity to bat for a while, she will put South Africa in a great position.



New Zealand has been scoring runs for fun against Ireland just recently, and again are staked with batters who enjoy the T20 format. Bates is as destructive as they come, and has a proven track record, and backed up with the likes of Sophie Devine, who has also played a good amount of T20 cricket in England; there are likely to be some high scoring games. Added to that combination is Amy Satterthwaite, who holds the record for consecutive hundreds in ODIs.



 



The Bowlers



England will as always rely on Katherine Brunt and Anya Shrubsole to take early wickets in the powerplay, and keep things tight. England, in Sophie Ecclestone, has a calm young left-arm spinner, who has adapted to life in international cricket with relative ease.



Lea Tahuhu, the New Zealand player is one of the fastest bowlers in the world. Devine and Bates take regular wickets. Amelia Kerr, the 17-year-old leg-spinner, has hit the headlines for her record-breaking batting, but her bowling should be doing the same soon.



South Africa have a bowling attack that is capable of running through any side. They proved this against England at Worcester the other week and West Indies at last year’s World Cup. Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail pose a threat up front.
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