New Zealand captain Amelia Kerr broke a world record against South Africa on Sunday, after a third consecutive T20I fifty.
Amelia Kerr's golden run of form continues
Kerr's New Zealand took on South Africa in the first T20I between the sides at Mount Maunganui. Batting at No.3, the White Ferns' new skipper came to face the second ball of the match after Izzy Gaze was run out for a diamond duck off the first.
She hit her first ball through the covers for four, and collected two fours and a six off Kayla Reyneke in the fourth over. By the end of the powerplay, she was on 31 off 15. By the 10th over, she made her way to fifty for the eighth time in her T20I career. Consecutive boundaries each off Annerie Dercksen and then Ayabonga Khaka saw her motor along as she and Georgia Plimmer put on 146 for the second wicket.
That stand ended when Kerr top-edged Masabata Klaas to keeper Sinalo Jafta, to head back for 78 off 44; her seventh consecutive score of 40 or more in T20Is, and her third fifty-plus score in a row after making 101* (51) and 82 (52) against Zimbabwe in her first two T20Is since taking over from Sophie Devine as New Zealand's permanent all-format captain. Kerr also made 140 runs and took 16 wickets in three ODIs against Zimbabwe.
These three T20Is, along with scores of 35 and five in 2023 and 2024 as a stand-in captain mean Kerr's tally as a T20I captain stands at 301 runs; the most after five T20I innings for any player, man or woman. Romania's Rebecca Blake held the women's record before this, with 250. Devine, Kerr's predecessor, is also in the top ten with 217 runs in her first five innings: she even scored 77, 105 and 75 not out in her next three matches.
1st T20I, New Zealand Women vs South Africa Women
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Women's T20Is: Most runs in first five innings as captain
| Player | Team | Runs | Avg | SR | 50s | 100s |
| Amelia Kerr | New Zealand | 301 | 75.3 | 161.8 | 2 | 1 |
| Rebecca Blake | Romania | 250 | 62.5 | 140.4 | 0 | 1 |
| Laura Wolvaardt | South Africa | 234 | 46.8 | 123.2 | 2 | 0 |
| Babette de Leede | Netherlands | 221 | 73.7 | 125.6 | 2 | 0 |
| Tharanga Gajanayake | Bahrain | 221 | 110.5 | 100.9 | 2 | 0 |
| Sophie Devine | New Zealand | 217 | 54.3 | 185.5 | 3 | 0 |
| Iresha Chathurani | Cyprus | 202 | - | 103.6 | 1 | 0 |
| Rita Musamali | Uganda | 187 | 93.5 | 108.7 | 0 | 1 |
| Charlotte Edwards | England | 181 | 36.2 | 132.1 | 2 | 0 |
| Divya Saxena | Canada | 174 | 43.5 | 100.6 | 1 | 0 |
-The corresponding men's record is held by Ma'ara Ave of the Cook Islands, with 277 runs. Quinton de Kock (South Africa, 262) is the topper among Full Members.
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