Amelia Kerr conquers Poonam Yadav in the battle of the leg-spinners

WOMEN'S T20 WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: The New Zealand allrounder is no shrinking violet on the international stage and she enhanced her reputation further against India

• Wasteful New Zealand left to rue missed chances
• Malaysia memories give England reason to be confident

Of the teenagers showcasing their talent at this Women's T20 World Cup, Amelia Kerr hardly falls into the category of unknown. This is a 19-year-old with the highest women's ODI score of all time. Only Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptil have made more. She is international cricket's youngest ever double centurion, an achievement she can be confident of holding for many years.

But eclipsing Belinda Clark's record which had stood for 21 years before Kerr hammered 232 not out against Ireland in June 2018 is just the start. The Wellington-native is now attempting to ensure that her career doesn't become defined by a mere statistic.

Recent years have seen Kerr emerge primarily as a legspinner. The daughter of former Kiwi Test player Bruce Murray has developed at least two variations which have taken her average to 23.81 in ODIs and 19.75 in T20Is. She grabbed 10 wickets at the 2017 World Cup, helping to earn her a Kia Super League contract for the following summer.

Come the clash with India in Melbourne, she showed every inch of that big-game mentality she has built up in recent years. 

Kerr played cat and mouse with the India batters, with the ball. Her opening spell was littered with flighted deliveries and balls turning the other way. Her opening two overs went for 13, with Taniya Bhatia and Shafali Verma taking her for a boundary each.

By the time she returned to the attack Verma had been dropped twice, but Kerr got her rival, tossing one up which the opener could not resist in swinging at and finding Hayley Jensen. That middle and leg line proved fruitful during her final over, when Veda Krishnamurthy was trapped lbw.

India clinch victory over New Zealand to qualify for semi-finals

On a pitch that didn't offer quick turn, Kerr took the surface out of the equation and beat India in the air. Her job was very much done with figures of 2-21, though New Zealand were left to rue several missed chances which could have kept their opponents below the 133 for 8 they eventually settled on.

Having really made her name as a batting extraordinaire, Kerr came to the rescue for New Zealand at just the right time in the chase. Coming in at 77 for 4 she finally offered an answer to her leg-spin adversary Poonam Yadav. Using her crease with great effect, Kerr let the ball come to her, a formula we might see more of as the tournament reaches the sharp end.

The penultimate over of the match saw Kerr deposit Yadav all over Junction Oval, first through short fine leg and then past point and the cover region. It was a wonderful array of hitting which kept New Zealand in the contest until the dying embers.

A remarkable scoop off Shikha Pandey meant the White Ferns needed four off the last ball for a tie. In the end, Pandey found her yorker length and the game was saved, but without Kerr (34 off 19) New Zealand were out of sight. Their net run-rate might thank them later.

Already with 62 international outings, she could comfortably become her country's most capped player in both formats. But perhaps above all else, she is clearly a key figure in a line-up that includes Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, and one that much is demanded of.

^{Amelia Kerr constantly beat India's batters in flight}

"She was outstanding," said Katey Martin. "She's prepared really well against Poonam especially. And you saw her move around the wicket nicely. Amelia is probably a slight person. 

"She's got along the ground and over extra cover and you saw that behind the wicket today. So she had a great day for us, really changed the momentum of the game with her bowling. Milly is a real star for us and we'll be looking for her to continue that form throughout the tournament.

"Milly is probably once in a generation type player for New Zealand. She works really hard at her game. She has a lot of support outside of cricket. 

"And she's someone that takes her responsibility doesn't sort of necessarily - she feels pressure like we all do but she really takes it with a mature outlook. And you don't expect someone 18, 19 to have the cricket knowledge that she does.

"But she's been outstanding for us, and she's the first one to put her hand up in pressure situations and that's what you want. And she's an exceptional young talent and someone that I think will have a long successful career."