'Yeah righto, listen here - the White Ferns have arrived to smoke you all'

The Women's Big Bash League has got off to a smoking hot start, not only because we've all seen the headlines about how popular the opening weekend was, but also because our White Ferns got their respective campaigns rolling with some decent work. Each team grabbed a win in the first eight games, showcasing just how competitive the WBBL02 could be, especially with every team playing the same opponent twice in the opening round.

Sophie Devine was the best-performing kiwi after two games and she currently sits 2nd on the run-scoring rankings on 84 runs, 3 runs behind Aussie Ellyse Perry. Devine hit 43 off 38 balls for Adelaide in their opening win against Melbourne Renegades and then backed that up with 41 off just 27 balls, top-scoring as Adelaide set the Renegades 129 to win which they chased down; 131/3 off 19.3 overs.

Perry has more runs that Devine, however Devine is striking at 129.23 compared to Perry's 102.35 and while it's fairly impressive that Devine has hit 84 runs off 65 balls in total, India's Harmanpreet Kaur isn't too far behind on 77 runs off 49 balls (157.14sr).

Devine wasn't required to bowl in the first game and only bowled a single over for 14 runs in the second game. Lea Tahuhu took 2/25 @6.25rpo in the first game for the Renegades, grabbing Devine's wicket and Rachel Priest could only manage a 3-ball duck. Priest then top-scored for the Renegades, steering them to victory with 44 off 37 balls with Tahuhu going wicket-less for 22 runs @5.50rpo.

Priest is the 3rd best kiwi run-scorer so far, striking at 110.

Tahuhu is the 2nd best kiwi bowler, taking 2 wickets @5.87rpo from two games.

The kiwi heavyweights went to battle with Suzie Bates' Perth Scorchers taking on Amy Satterthwaite's Hobart Hurricanes and while they each grabbed a win, Bates came out the winner in the individual bragging rights war.

Bates opened the batting for Perth in the first game and hit 14 off 17 balls, while Satterthwaite's off-spin took 1/19 @4.75. Hobart chased down 120 to win and Bates finished as the best bowler from this game with 2/14 @4.66rpo as she dismissed both Hobart openers while Satterthwaite was bowled for 7 off 11 balls.

Satterthwaite again grabbed a wicket, taking 1/34 @8.50rpo but 48 off 46 balls from Bates helped Perth put up a slightly better total of 142 that proved to be too much for Hobart. Satterthwaite was once again bowled, this time for 18 off 19 balls and Bates took 1/25 @8.33rpo, again dismissing an opener.

3 wickets means that Bates is the best kiwi bowler so far, keep in mind that there's quite a gang of bowlers who've taken 3 wickets so it'll be interesting to see where Bates sits after a few more games. Bates is one of two bowlers with 3 wickets who haven't bowled their full 8 overs as she's only bowled 6 overs and only three bowlers (including Bates and Kaur) have taken 3 or more wickets from less than 7 overs.

Bates is 2nd to Devine in run-scoring, 7th overall. Bates has 62 runs from 63 balls, striking at 98.41.

Satterthwaite is well down the order in run-scoring, she's the 3rd best kiwi bowler though with 2 wickets from 8 overs @6.62rpo.

Morna Nielsen and her Melbourne Stars were the victims of a brutal assault via Harmanpreet Kaur as the Indian international almost made light-work of Melbourne's 147 (Nielsen didn't bat), with 47 off 28 balls via 2 fours and 3 sixes getting the Thunder to 141/4 off 20 overs. Nielsen bowled her full 4 overs, taking 1/22 @5.5rpo which was crucial as she was one of two Stars bowlers to have economy-rates less than 6rpo.

The Stars couldn't back that up, with the Thunder bouncing back to win largely thanks to another swash-bucklin' knock from Kaur. Nielsen did manage a bat this time around, hitting 5* off 3 balls (166.66sr!) as the Stars set 117 to win and that's never going to be enough with Kaur in the sort of form she's currently in. Kaur hit 30 off 21 balls as the Thunder finished up on 121/2 in 18.5 overs, with Nielsen only bowling 2 overs @6rpo.

I knew Sara McGlashan was lurking around the Sydney Sixers, I just couldn't find a confirmed squad in time for my preview so I couldn't include her in it. McGlashan is definitely playing in the WBBL02 though and it looks as though she's going to play a key role in the batting line up for the Sixers, coming in at No.4 after the Aussie superstars Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy open.

McGlashan came in after the two Aussies put on 74 for the opening wicket, both finishing up with scores in the 40's and McGlashan executed her role to perfection in hitting 27 off just 16 balls (168.75sr) to help the Sixers reach 138/6. West Indian Deandra Dottin hit 60 off 44 balls to ensure that Brisbane chased down the Sixers' target before the Sixers got revenge in the next fixture.

This time the Sixers were chasing and after they rolled Brisbane for 83/9 off 20 overs, the chase wasn't going to be too hard. McGlashan only had to hit 13* off 15 balls, as the Sixers reached 86/2 off 16 overs.

McGlashan is the 4th best kiwi run-scorer and while her 40 runs might not catch the eye, the job she is required to do involves her scoring those runs quickly and McGlashan's strike-rate of 129.03 is better than both Priest and Bates'. It's even close to Devine's 129.23sr.
There's another collection of games this weekend, so we'll be back on Monday to wrap it up before the Christmas break.