Suzannah Wilson Bates (born 16 September 1987) is a New Zealand cricketer and former captain of national women cricket team. Born in Dunedin, she plays domestic cricket for the Otago Sparks, as well as for the White Ferns. She currently holds the highest score and highest batting average in the New Zealand Women's Twenty20 cricket team. She won the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2013.[1] Bates again won ICC Women's ODI and T20I Cricketer of the Year 2016.[2][3]
On 8 June 2018, she scored her tenth century in WODIs, with 151 runs against Ireland.[8] In the same match, she also became the leading run-scorer for New Zealand Women in WODIs, passing Debbie Hockley's total of 4,064 runs.[9] On 20 June 2018, during the match against South Africa Women in the 2018 England women's Tri-Nation Series, Bates scored her first century in WT20I cricket.[10] In the same match, she also became the leading run-scorer in the format, passing Charlotte Edwards' total of 2,605 runs.[11] In the sixth match of the tri-series, Bates became the second woman, after Jenny Gunn, to play in 100 WT20I matches.[12]
In August 2018, she was awarded a central contract by New Zealand Cricket, following the tours of Ireland and England in the previous months.[13][14] In September 2018, she stepped down as captain of New Zealand and was replaced by Amy Satterthwaite.[15]
In October 2018, she was named in New Zealand's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.[16][17] Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch.[18] During the tournament, she became the first cricketer, male or female, to score 3,000 runs in Twenty20 International matches.[19] She was the leading run-scorer for New Zealand in the tournament, with 161 runs in four matches.[20] Following the conclusion of the tournament, she was named the standout player in the team by the International Cricket Council (ICC).[21]
In November 2020, Bates was nominated for the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the Decade, and the award for women's ODI cricketer of the decade.[26][27] In February 2022, she was named in New Zealand's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.[28]
In April 2022, Bates was named the Super Smash Player of the Year at the annual Otago Cricket Awards.[29] In June 2022, Bates was named in New Zealand's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.[30]
Bates was named in the New Zealand squad for their ODI tour to India in October 2024.[32]
International centuries
As of the conclusion of the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup, Bates held the record for the most Women's ODI centuries by a New Zealander with 12 in total, and was second only to Meg Lanning of Australia overall.[33][34] She had also scored a single Women's Twenty20 International century.[35] Her highest ODI and international score was her second ODI century, a score of 168 against Pakistan, at Sydney on 19 March 2009, made during the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup.[34]
In October 2013, Bates became the sole holder of the record for the most Women's ODI centuries by a New Zealander, which she had previously shared with Debbie Hockley, when she recorded her fifth century, a score of 110 against the West Indies at Sabina Park, Jamaica.[33][36][37]
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