New Zealand wicket-keeper batter Bernadine Bezuidenhout calls time on her international career.
The 30-year-old wicket-keeper batter was born in Kimberley, South Africa. She also started her International career representing South Africa. She made her international debut on 7th September 2014 in a T20I against England.
She has played seven matches and scored 68 runs in six innings for South Africa in the T20I format. Her best performance for South Africa in the format came on 9th September 2014 when she scored 34 runs at a strike rate of 103.03 against Ireland. As far as the ODI format is concerned, she has played four matches and scored a couple of runs in three innings in the format for South Africa. Her last international appearance for South Africa came on 22nd March 2015 in the 3rd T20I in a bilateral series against Pakistan.
She moved to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2015 and made her international debut for the White Ferns on 6th June 2018 in a T20I against Irelands. She has scored 231 runs at a strike rate of 108.45 in 20 innings. Her best performance for New Zealand in the format came on 17th February 2023 against Bangladesh when she scored 44 runs at an impressive strike rate of 169.23 against Bangladesh. She made her ODI debut for New Zealand on 8th June 2018 against Ireland.
She has scored 289 runs at a strike rate of 79.61, an average of 24.08 in 13 innings. Her best performance in the ODI format for New Zealand came on 12th December 2023 against Pakistan when she scored 86 runs at a-run-a-ball. “It’s been such a great ride. Playing for the White Ferns has been a huge privilege and honour and it’s left me with the fondest memories. The journey has taught me so much and I’ll be forever grateful to everyone who has been on the path with me.” The 30-year-old wicket-keeper batter expresses her gratitude and speaks about her journey while representing the White Ferns at the international level.
Her last International appearance came on 4th April 2024, representing New Zealand in the 2nd ODI of the bilateral series against England. However, they ended up on the losing side by 56 runs. She was diagnosed with Red-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) which kept her out of action for two years. She is a founder of the non profit enterprise coined as The EPIC Sports Project Charitable Trust aiming to use sport as a source to inspire hope and belonging in young people from high deprivation communities, breaking the participation barriers in sport.
“I’m at peace with this decision but it wasn’t an easy one to make. I’ve struggled to find a balance between my work and playing career for a while now, and after a lot of thought and reflection I feel that it’s the right time to pivot and put my full focus on The EPIC Sports Project.” The wicket-keeper batter Bernadine Bezuidenhout speaks about her decision of stepping away from the game and shifting her focus on her EPIC Sports Project.
However, she will continue to ply her trade at the domestic level for Northern Districts.
(Quotes sourced from Espncricinfo)
