Just the one Super Smash T20 game to report on, with Canterbury going up against Wellington tonight. I'll get on to the usual wrap/notes from Otago's win over Northern Districts below, this game did get me thinking though about how dumb all our cricket coverage is. 

Here I was, thinking that I could grab a bit of Wednesday night entertainment by watching the Otago vs ND game on the telly. I was instead left to watch a scoreboard tick over as if I was living in 2008 or something, with only some - most but not all - Super Smash games broadcasted via Sky TV.

This is nothing new for us in Aotearoa as we've rarely been graced with domestic cricket coverage of any great note, the best thing we often get are video scorecards; imagine my joy when I clicked on the 'video scorecard' for this Otago vs ND game on the Blackcaps website, only to find no videos.

We know that we live in the dark ages here in Aotearoa, it just seems so silly when I take a look over the ditch and see that Big Bash T20 cricket and Women's Big Bash cricket are both on free telly. In Aotearoa, we can't even get every Super Smash cricket on pay TV.

If we can't even get every Super Smash game on telly - pay TV, not even free TV!! - then it goes without saying that women's cricket ain't getting no coverage. 

We know that we get jack-all sports on free TV and that we are being robbed in front of our eyes. Really, it's not that hard to set up a few cameras and at the very least stream games online. It's not even that difficult to get highlights up on Youtube either and while I can catch our White Ferns in the WBBL02 via highlights of every game via Cricket AU, trying to find Super Smash highlights isn't as easy.

Does all this sound as incredibly stupid to y'all, as it does to me? 

Otago Volts vs Northern Districts Knights (Otago win)

Notables

Otago 177/5 off 15 overs.

Neil Broom - 57 (162.9sr), Michael Bracewell - 34 (242.9sr), Jimmy Neesham - 42 (262.5sr).

ND 175/9 off 15 overs.

Dean Brownlie - 52 (200sr), Corey Anderson - 30 (272.7sr).

Warren Barnes - 3/45 @15rpo, Neil Wagner - 2/22 @7.33rpo, Jimmy Neesham - 2/26 @8.67rpo.

Notes

This game featured a hefty contingent of Blackcaps with Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner and BJ Watling returning from Australia while Corey Anderson, Ish Sodhi and Neil Wagner were already with their respective teams to greet their Blackcaps comrades. Hot off his impressive display for the Blackcaps in Australia with the bat, Neesham was a stand out here as he came in at No.5 and while he didn't have the highest score, Neesham owned the all-important highest strike-rate as he blazed 42 off just 16 balls at 262.5sr via 5 sixes.

Neesham had a couple of run-outs, he took 2 wickets with the ball and bowled the final over in which he faced the challenge of defending 8 runs from 3 deliveries; Neesham and Otago won. There aren't too many players who are more interesting than Neesham right now as he's coming back into domestic T20 cricket with a wave of confidence pushing him along after scoring runs in a hostile environment, against a super Australian bowling attack. 

Confidence is a funny thing and domestic T20 cricket is perfectly suited to a rampant Neesham, who can hit boundaries all around the park. Neesham was up against Corey Anderson in this game and Anderson put his best foot forward as well, with his 30 runs coming at a strike-rate better than Neesham's (272.7).

The two veterans in Neil Broom and Dean Brownlie were the only half-century hitters here though and if the Blackcaps are to continue to select veterans over youth, then Broom and Brownlie are the top contenders for a batting spot. Broom faced the most deliveries of any batsman in this game (35) which gave Otago some sort of short-term anchor, while Brownlie's 50 came at 200sr.

Poor some liquor out for the young seamers in this game who got tonked around. ND's Zak Gibson went at 13.50rpo (1/27), while Otago's Warren Barnes went at 15rpo (3/45) and Jacob Duffy was wicket-less with his 17rpo. The young spinners got tonked as well off their  single overs, with Ish Sodhi condeding 13 off his over and Josh Finne conceding 21 off his, while Mitchell Santner went at 12.33rpo off his three overs. 

Which bowler had the best economy-rate in collective trip to boom-town? Neil Wagner, duh. Wagner sent Brownlie and Watling back to the shed and only conceded 7.33rpo off his three overs, sparking thoughts of why Wagnut doesn't appear to be in the mix for a Blackcaps limited overs spot. He's gotta feature in coloured clothing this summer, surely.

Leaders

Batsmen

Dean Brownlie (ND): 112 runs, 3 inns, 37.33avg, 149.33sr.

Glenn Phillips (Aux): 105 runs, 2 inns, 52.50avg, 128.04sr.

Mark Chapman (Aux): 83 runs, 2 inns, 83avg, 202.43sr.

Bowlers

Darryl Mitchell (ND): 5 wickets, 7 overs, 14avg, 10rpo.

Mark Chapman (Aux): 4 wickets, 5 overs, 6.74avg, 5.40rpo.

Andrew Ellis (Cant): 4 wickets, 6 overs, 16.75avg, 11.16rpo.