Hagley Oval Christchurch ODI: Top 5 Players to Watch in NZ-W vs SA-W 1st ODI

The First One Day International (ODI) game between New Zealand Women (NZ-W) and South Africa Women (SA-W) at Hagley Oval, Christchurch on March 29, 2025 is expected to be a tight tussle given the form of both teams’ last five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) in IPL squads and T20I results and the advantage South Africa has over New Zealand Women in their previous one-day formats. In their last seven ODIs against New Zealand Women (prior to this series), South African Women have beaten New Zealand Women in six. Using this as a benchmark will make the prediction on the outcome of this match easier for a reader but difficult for the person predicting this result. New Zealand Women is an in-form team that has brought back into this ODI squad Suzie Bates, Flora Devonshire & Georgia Plimmer along with their captain Amelia Kerr to return some extra experience from before. South African Women is led by their captain Laura Wolvaardt and has a significant addition to their touring squad with Dané van Niekerk, Ayabonga Khaka & Masabata Klaas all returning to bolster the touring group.

ODI Context And Stakes

For an audience in India, this First ODI has a similar feel of a bilateral series: The T20I result was one result while the ODI format is another. A country can lose a T20I in its series but make things right in ODIs. The 2025 ICC Women’s Championship ADC cycle includes this bilateral series for both teams and the outcome of this ODI will be recordable within this cycle so the relevance and tangible stakes will be evident for both teams participating in this match. My five players that will influence the outcome of this match for NZ-W vs SA-W 1st ODI will be Amelia Kerr, Laura Wolvaardt, Brooke Halliday, Annerie Dercksen & JessFive Key Players for the NZ vs. SA 1st ODI

Firstly, a quick bit of context: New Zealand dominated the T20I series with South Africa, winning the fifth T20I in Christchurch (where the ODI will be held) easily by 92 runs, with Amelia Kerr getting 105 runs that match and performing extremely well for New Zealand throughout that series on home soil.

However, ODI cricket takes some of the noise out of that series. South Africa has a strong recent ODI record against New Zealand and have a very well-constructed squad to face the length of pressure periods, with Wolvaardt at the top of the order, Dercksen in the middle of the order, and plenty of pace options to keep the home side from cruising from the 35th to 50th overs of the innings.

Amelia Kerr – New Zealand

Kerr is the most difficult player to argue against for selection. She scored 140 runs and took 16 wickets in three ODIs against Zimbabwe earlier this month, including 7/34 in the second ODI, and also made 80 runs and took 5/22 with a hat-trick in the third ODI. It was her first opportunity leading New Zealand in ODIs as the captain of the white ball, and she completely dominated the three matches.

Amelia Kerr has made 30-plus scores in each of her last 10 T20I innings 💪

No other player, across genders, has made more than nine in a row in the format🇳🇿😮#NZvSA #Cricket pic.twitter.com/CvhvjGzAh3

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 22, 2026

The larger pointShe’s got a leg-up in the NZ-W vs SA-W 1st ODI with both a batting and bowling advantage having seen all parts of the spectrum from reading length early to varying timing on pace late. Both of these two aspects are also very important throughout the ODI match from 15 to 40 overs.

Everyone, Indian fans in particular, have seen their share of all-rounders who have been the reason their side has been able to win just one spell or one stand. Right now, Kerr is giving us both sides of this; if NZ wins to bat they can dictate putting together a pace of play after the first wicket is lost. If they decide to bowl first Kerr will be able to break the Wolvaardt line and use her field settings to restrict the middle order from getting out of the ring. Therefore, she is the player the South Africans will need to make a plan for before they toss the coin.

Laura Wolvaardt, South Africa

Wolvaardt remains the one to control tempo for the entirety of the South African ODI batting line-up. She is not simply dictating how fast or slow the innings will go; she’s creating an innings at a pace that is in a good state of control over how the innings will take shape, thereby allowing other batsmen to perform to the best of their ability. There will be some player differences as the South African batting order included Khaka, Klaas, and van Niekerk on this game against New Zealand vs the last set of ODIs before this trip; however, still the need for a strong base, or quality spine still exists for the South African batting order in Wolvaardt.

There is also another level of complexity to this story. Since South Africa last played New Zealand in an ODI, which took place during the latest World Cup (2025) in Indore, they have beaten NZ. They have won 7 out of their last 8 WIODI matches played vs NZ. As such, these results display a reference point which provides the Proteas the confidence to draw NZ into a slower paced timed game while still being able to exert control over the game.Wolvaardt is the best player in this game for what I have described. Her performances at the 2025 World Cup were such that ESPNcricinfo has framed her as changing her ODI game to a higher level, with a more aggressive edge to the style of play for which she is known, usually hitting off her front foot with her classic shots through the off-side. When she takes her place on the field in Christchurch, she will only need to score 75 runs instead of the typical 120 runs that many women players need to help their team get through the harder stage of an innings and to assist her team in winning the 1st ODI against New Zealand Women and South Africa Women.

Brooke Halliday, New Zealand

3) Brooke Halliday, New Zealand – Halliday is the quiet but effective player on this list. She is not the first player that comes to the minds of people discussing the New Zealand Women’s team, however, Halliday, after returning to ODIs after a long layoff, deserves to be viewed more seriously than people are viewing her. On March 5th, Halliday scored 157 runs without getting out in a match against Zimbabwe and she now owns the third-highest score of a New Zealand woman in ODIs. Halliday’s innings was not one in which she scored runs by luck because she scored runs by correctly controlling and accelerating her innings.

In terms of how this performance links to the current USA-South African ODI match and how that influences the game, Halliday should be viewed very highly because South African teams usually make teams earn every run they score when facing them. Halliday gives New Zealand a left and right-handed batter in the middle order of their batting line-up and provides New Zealand with an option to sit on spin bowlers and not slow down their innings. For those from India, Halliday’s innings of 157 runs would start out being scored at about one run for each ball bowled to her, and her innings would be very quiet on the scoreboard until after 30 overs and then she would score most of her runs as boundaries from then on.

Halliday is very high on all players’ watch lists due to the no-win situation with which New Zealand will find itself if they were to be in a situation where they needed her to score runs and they are at 40 runs for an out or worse before she even comes to the crease to bat.The South African team needs for her to make 68 from a very good base and change a pretty good innings into a winning innings. The South African team is also aware of that, so if Halliday comes in with wickets in hand, the first ODI between NZ-W and SA-W can quickly go away from them.

Annerie Dercksen, South Africa

Dercksen is the player who they predict will ruin the script as it is currently written. The recent ODI series against Pakistan provided a great deal of evidence regarding Dercksen’s value to the South African ODI team. She performed very well in that series with 175 runs at an average of over 58 and then hit 90 from 68 balls in the second ODI at Centurion. She also took 3-59 and helped the team win by 16 runs in a match that had a historic total of 706 runs scored combined by both teams.

New Zealand cannot let that player off the hook. Wolvaardt is the steady all-rounder – Dercksen is the explosive all-rounder. She can come in at 120-3 in the 28th over and turn that game around in just a matter of overs, or she can break up a partnership with medium-pace bowling that hits very irreproachable lengths. In ODI cricket, those players with dual skill sets are extremely valuable. The South African side had one against Pakistan and will play one against New Zealand.

Dercksen’s rise will have even more significance because Marizanne Kapp is still in South Africa recovering after an illness. Therefore, the all-rounder responsibilities will fall more heavily on Dercksen’s shoulders. From her looks, she is ready for that responsibility and if she bats in the final 20 overs of the 1st ODI of NZ-W vs SA-W, it will put New Zealand’s plans for the death overs into a great deal of jeopardy.Jess Kerr is great and deserves the #5 spot over others with bigger names because she has been continuously getting Wickets and helping NZ get wickets. Early on in Christchurch, the conditions provide an excellent opportunity for seamers to have an impact in a syndicate style ODI, and Jess has been a significant contributor to New Zealand’s recent run of getting wickets. Jess took 3 for 28 against Zimbabwe in her first ODI

Jess Kerr, New Zealand

In the T20I series against South Africa, she was the leading Wicket-taker after 4 innings with 8 Wickets at an average of 11.62 and had the best economy of all the strike options

This run is evidence that Jess has her lengths right. She hasn’t relied on a couple of mishits or one occasion. She has been hitting that annoying channel and luring Batters to play square shots and making her Captains look smart for backing her in the last few overs.

The skill to get Wickets in ODI Cricket extends beyond the powerplay. By getting a Wicket in the powerplay, in the rebuild, and one at the death, or in ODI terms getting one in each of the three phases of an innings, you will see a completely different score on the scorecard.If South Africa lose either Wolvaardt or Brits in the first 10 overs, NZ’s spin & ring fielding will at least double in difficulty.

9 innings, 499 runs @ 62.37, 157.91 SR, 2 fifties and 2 hundreds 💯

Amelia Kerr has now scored two T20I centuries since becoming New Zealand’s all-format skipper 🇳🇿#NZvSA #Cricket pic.twitter.com/oMCxknhrTB

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 25, 2026

Therefore Jess Kerr deserves to be in this list.The 1st ODI is about who can take control of the match early with the two opening teams being tested against each other. New Zealand welcomes Bates and Plimmer back to their ODI squad to bolster the top-order supporting Amelia Kerr, Halliday and Maddy Green as they focus on bowling (Kerr). In addition, South Africa have Khaka and Klaas returning to their tour squad for a longer format of the game which adds to their new-ball attack on New Zealand.

Middle Overs And Momentum

The middle overs create a battle between New Zealand with Halliday’s form and Amelia Kerr’s spin, and between South Africa with Wolvaardt’s aggressiveness and Dercksen’s potential to hit; these two phases of the game will reveal which team reads risk better during overs 16-35 and withdraws from the 1st ODI.

Finally, the third battle is about emotional momentum. At the outset of the match New Zealand has current momentum and South Africa has recent ODI success against this opponent. Given the recent form of both teams, the NZ-W vs SA-W 1st ODI will be much closer than a 4-1 T20I descriptive score would indicate.

Quick Takes And Last Thoughts

Quick takes:

Amelia Kerr, player to watch, scored 140 runs and 16 wickets during the Zimbabwe ODI series and a century against South Africa in the final T20I.

Laura Wolvaardt is the anchor for South Africa’s ODI innings and South Africa has won 7 of the last 8 women’s ODIs over New Zealand.

Brooke Halliday enters the 1st ODI with an ODI of 157 not out and is capable of breaking up any balanced bowling attack.

Annerie Dercksen is a pressure release with 175 runs from the ODI series against Pakistan and a 90 plus 3 for 59 all-round performance in Centurion.

Jess Kerr should provide New Zealand with early wicket taking and control with 3 for 28 against Zimbabwe and 8 wickets in the first 4 T20Is against South Africa.

Last Thoughts:

The best way to watch this match is to not view it as a continuation of T20I form, but on its own merits. The contest between New Zealand’s current form and the greater recent ODI dominance of South Africa makes it a compelling contest.

If Amelia Kerr can own the middle overs, then New Zealand will stay in control. If Wolvaardt lays a foundation and Dercksen provides a launch, then South Africa can flip the script again. Hence, these five players will have the most influence in the Hagley Oval affair, proving that this opener will have more posted edge than suggested by series score.