The festive season has seen a plethora Women's Big Bash League games, too many for me to squeeze in a recap and despite so many games going down, we haven't seen our kiwis dominate as much. Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu are in action for Melbourne Renegades today, in their second game of a back to back against Sara McGlashan's Sydney Sixers. Then there's a pause before the weekend, allowing me to take stock of the #KiwiWBBL stats and rankings, while today I run through what's happened.

This swing of games started with Thamsyn Newton's Perth Scorchers hosting Melbourne Stars on the 26th and 27th of December. Perth won the first game and lost the second, with Newton only playing on the 26th where she was hit for 31 runs off her 3 overs and didn't take a wicket @ 10.33rpo.

I was hyped for those two games to see what Newton could dish up and with Newton under-performing, then getting cut for the next game was a bit downbuzz. Newton may have been injured, but she was back in the mix for Perth's game vs Sydney Sixers on the 30th and she took 1w @ 8.50rpo off 2 overs. Again, that's minimal usage for Newton and she tends to get given overs during the middle stage of the innings which is probably ideal for her experience-level right now.

Between Christmas and 2018, Newton bowled 5ov with 1w @ 9.6rpo and didn't get a bat.
McGlashan was dismissed for a duck in this game and followed it up with 1 off 2 balls in yesterday's game vs Renegades, which Sixers won. That's 1 run between Christmas and 2018 for McGlashan, although McGlashan's form isn't crucial to her team's success at the moment with Sixers leading WBBL03 with just 2 losses.

Ellyse Perry provided the backbone with the bat and Dane van Niekerk starred with the ball as the Sixers defeated the Renegades by 36 runs

Tahuhu and Satterthwaite bowled 3ov each in this game, with Satterthwaite taking 1w @ 7.66rpo and Tahuhu conceding 8.66rpo without a wicket. Chasing 129 set by Sixers, this should have been a fairly competitive game but with Satterthwaite caught on 11, Renegades crumbled to be skittled for 92 and Tahuhu contributed 2 runs. McGlashan's form ain't crucial to Sixers success, yet Satterthwaite's definitely is and Satterthwaite will need to lead from the front in today's game if Renegades are to get some revenge.

Rachel Priest was in action twice for Sydney Thunder as they grabbed two wins over Hobart Hurricanes, only having to chase targets of 113 and 98. Priest was sharp behind the stumps and had two slick stumpings in the second game and despite being an opening batter, Priest only batted in the first game (13 off 18) as Thunder reshuffled their batting line up for the second game.

A brilliant bowling display from Stafanie Taylor laid the foundations for a seven-wicket Sydney Thunder win on the road over Hobart Hurricanes

Sydney Thunder again proved too strong for Hobart Hurricanes, winning by eight wickets at Launceston, following an excellent bowling spell from Samantha Bates.

This could have been due to some sort of injury or lack of form from Priest at the top, I suspect Thunder saw it as a nice opportunity to give Stafanie Taylor more time as she was promoted to open. Alex Blackwell and Harmanpreet Kaur also came in ahead of Priest with a small target to chase, so while Priest hasn't been in dominant form, commanding her opening spot, I think she'll slot in back up the top in their next outing; Taylor only hit 5 off 8 in Priest's spot.

Adelaide Strikers' first loss to Brisbane Heat encapsulates what a stinker this last week has been for #KiwiWBBL. Suzie Bates was dismissed for 1 and Sophie Devine had her stumps touched by Deandra Dottin on 13 which resulted in Adelaide reach 113/6. This was backed up with no wickets from Bates and Devine, from a combined 4ov (3 ofr Bates, 1 for Devine) and Brisbane strolled to victory in 16 overs, scoring at 7.12rpo.

A scintillating bowling display got things going, and Beth Mooney finished the job at Adelaide Oval as Heat powered to a nine-wicket win

Beth Mooney again proved an unstoppable force as she steered Brisbane Heat to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Adelaide Strikers

Bates and Devine then repeated the dose and Brisbane snatched another win. Bates did manage to score 32 but with Devine only putting up 10, Adelaide were restricted to 119/7 and Brisbane chased this down fairly easily again. Devine bowled 2ov @ 9.50rpo and Bates didn't bowl.

For Adelaide and Melbourne, they need #KiwiWBBL contributions from their world-class imports. Satterthwaite didn't do much for Renegades and they lost, while Bates and Devine were missing in action for Strikers and they lost. This is not the norm and they should rectify this quickly, especially with a cluster of games this weekend.

I'll be back tomorrow to offer more detail in how the kiwis have performed in WBBL03 up to this point and suss out some trends. If you enjoy the #KiwiWBBL yarns then hit an ad to show your support.

Peace and love 27.