Out of the shadows: Plimmer steps up in post-Bates era

Emerging from the shadow of a pair of New Zealand legends, Georgia Plimmer's career-best innings against Australia's world-class attack could be the injection of confidence the opener – and the White Ferns – need heading into a new era.

Plimmer carried her bat through New Zealand's innings of 2-162 in Sunday's opening T20I at North Sydney Oval, scoring an unbeaten 85 off 68 balls.

It easily eclipsed her previous best of 63 and was her fourth half-century from a 55-match career in the format that until that point had seen the 22-year-old average 16.16 with a strike rate of 105.

The retirements of New Zealand's most-capped T20I players, Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, alongside decorated quick Lea Tahuhu, at the end of the T20 World Cup in July left many asking who would step up to support captain Amelia Kerr, now the only player in the White Ferns' XI who would demand a 'superstar' status.

Reflecting after her innings, Plimmer said the New Zealand squad had pledged to step up as a whole to take greater responsibility.

"When I first came in (to the side) a lot of what it was (about) was trying to build a bit of depth behind those legends," Plimmer said.

"At the start of this series we talked through all three of them – Lea, Sophie and Suzie – and what we're going to miss from them not being in the team, and how we can all step up in different departments.

"It doesn't mean that one person's wanting to replicate Suzie, it means that all of us need to step up in different facets to have that energy in the field, or wanting to take those chances like she did, or take on the Powerplay like she did.

"I think it's not an individual effort or for me to personally step up. It's all of us together to be able to come together."

Plimmer debuted for the White Ferns as an 18-year-old against Australia in the Commonwealth Games semi-final in 2022, six months before she would represent her country at the inaugural U19 women's World Cup.

She conceded it had been a tough initiation to international cricket, paying credit to Bates for her support at the top of the order.

"I think having to try and learn in international cricket, especially when I first came into the White Ferns, I definitely didn't feel like I was ready at that point," Plimmer said.

"There's been a lot of tough conversations and work behind the scenes to try and get me to where (I am now) ... I think for me, a lot of it was mental, and being able to try and build confidence when you haven't really done it before was the toughest thing to do.

"When I started, I got to open with Suzie Bates, who had done it for so many years so at the start I tried to learn as much as I could from her.

"Now with the side that we have, losing three legends to retirement, and it's now an opportunity for young players and players that have been in and around the White Ferns to try and step up.

"We learnt a lot from the likes of Suzie so hopefully that can push me forward and get some more confidence as well."

Following the elation of their surprise 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, the two most recent ICC women's tournaments brought the Kiwis crashing back down to earth as they failed to make the semi-finals of the 2025 ODI World Cup in India, and 2026 T20 event in England.

The 2026 World Cup left a particularly bitter taste, as the defending champions failed to advance following a shock loss to Sri Lanka alongside defeats to West Indies and England.

The losses to Sri Lanka and the Windies were punctuated by poor fielding, with nine dropped chances across the two matches, leaving them 0-2 to start the tournament with their title defence in tatters.

It was a much-improved display from New Zealand in the opening T20I against Australia, as they held their chances while a direct-hit from Flora Devonshire saw opener Beth Mooney run out for 38.

"We've been through a bit as a team through that T20 World Cup," Plimmer said.

"To come out here and take it down to the wire at the end and be able to battle against the world champs as well, we're going to be able to take some good positives out of that, but also quite a lot of learnings of how we want to be able to attack the next coming games as well.

"It was quite weird because before the World Cup there were not that many problems with our fielding.

"It just came down to those pressure moments and who wanted to actually take those moments and be the one to get your run out or take your catches … we reflected on that a lot and Dean Brownlie our interim head coach at the moment, a lot of what he said is that it's actually just about enjoying being out there, being able to relax and go back to how we were playing before.

"It was cool to see that (in the first T20I), being able to take those chances."

New Zealand will need to come back from a 0-1 deficit to upset Australia if they are to win their first T20I series against their trans-Tasman rivals since 2017.

But Plimmer said Sunday's fighting effort, and the lure of the Rose Bowl trophy – the coveted silverware that Australia has held for 26 years, but which is now available for T20I series as well as one-dayers – would drive the tourists.

"Before this series, we watched a lot of videos from the Rose Bowl and past legends that have played in the Rose Bowl, and a key theme that came across was a lot to do with wanting to fight to the end and scrap against our 'older sister' rivals in Australia," she said.

"To see that (in game one), especially as a quite a new group and after a lot of new change with losing the three legends as well, was pretty cool to see.

"I think it's a big thing about our group being so young … what we want to show people is that we are a team that fights, and to be able to do that, and take run out opportunities, take our catches as well, there's a lot of positives to take from the night, especially in that fielding innings at the end."

NRMA Insurance Women's T20 Series v New Zealand

First T20I: Australia won by two wickets

Second T20I: Tuesday, October 20

Third T20I: Thursday, October 22

* All matches played at North Sydney Oval starting at 7:15pm AEDT

Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham 

New Zealand T20I squad: Melie Kerr (c), Eden Carson, Flora Devonshire, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Bree Illing, Polly Inglis (wk), Bella James, Jess Kerr, Rosemary Mair, Nensi Patel, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Izzy Sharp

All women's international matches will be shown live on Seven, 7Plus, Kayo Sports and Foxtel