2021/22 Women's Super Smash: Wellington Blaze Are Still Really Good
Only one Super Smash women's team remains undefeated after Wellington Blaze grabbed a win over Otago Sparks. Otago are currently in action again today against Auckland Hearts and will then swing back round to play Wellington on January 6th, so we will keep learning about this Otago outfit. Wellington and Otago both have 20 points (prior to Wednesday's games) while Auckland are third on 8 points, which shows how dominant the Blaze and Sparks have been.
I'm also chucking today's focus on Wellington Firebirds after their win over Otago Volts. Wellington blokes and wahine have been a Super Smash force, building a bit of a dynasty in this format. Such championship vibes required a Wellington check in and the general note is that the wahine are sticking solid to consistent dominance, while the blokes are 2-3 in 4th spot.
That context is important for both teams. For the wahine, their championship equity seemed to be a factor in the win over Otago. The Sparks rolled out their worst performance so far with 14 wides, many dropped catches and nine of 11 batters scoring less than 10 runs. Even though both teams have supreme Super Smash talent, Wellington have far more experience in tough games against quality opposition.
Wellington put up 157/7 batting first. Amelia Kerr again scored runs with 56 runs @ 112sr, with support from Leigh Kasperek (24 runs @ 92sr) and Georgia Plimmer (19 runs @ 190sr). Having these three wahine leading Wellington's batting innings is perfect because it sums up how the Blaze have scored their runs in their five game winnings streak.
A-Kerr and Kasperek are Wellington's best batters.
A-Kerr is in the funkiest Super Smash batting groove of any kiwi wahine with scores of 71, 62, 50, 42 and 56. That's a 40+ score in every game with an overall strike-rate of 118. Since the start of 2020, A-Kerr has batted in 12 T20I innings for Aotearoa with a highest score of 36 and this was all part of White Ferns woes. A-Kerr has batted 23 times in T20I cricket with 217 runs all up, which is less runs than A-Kerr has scored in her five Super Smash innings (281 runs).
Kasperek has 128 runs @ 64avg/117sr batting in the middle order. Opener Rebecca Burns (102 runs @ 100sr) is the other Blaze batter with 100+ runs and while her opening partner Georgia Plimmer has 87 runs, the Burns/Plimmer combo is laying attacking foundations up top. Plimmer has a strike-rate of 116 and this means Wellington's four leading batters all have 100+ strike-rates. Plimmer may be Aotearoa's best young batter too.
Chuck in Jess Kerr's 141sr - which is a great sign for White Ferns alongside the best slugger Lea Tahuhu - and Wellington have no shortage of boundary hitters. Sophie Devine will return soon as well, which may bump Plimmer out of her opening slot. We all know how Devine plays and last summer she was at her best with 165sr.
The only Blaze batter with a strike-rate below 100 is skipper and White Ferns quasi-veteran Maddy Green. Green has 23 runs in her five games (4.60avg/85sr) and in 12 games last season, Green had a high score of 33 (29.33avg/101sr). In 158 innings of T20 cricket, Green averages 18.17 and this is weird because Green is clearly in a form slump but regular White Ferns readers will note that while her current Super Smash mahi has fallen of a cliff, Green has not developed into a key White Ferns batter since her debut in 2012.
Green is in a slump at the wrong time ahead of a home World Cup. The stars could align for Green to find form just as Devine returns and that would make Wellington clear favourites to win the competition. Right now though, A-Kerr and Kasperek are scoring most of Wellington's runs while others chip in with knocks like J-Kerr's 7 runs @ 140sr, Jess McFadyden's 4 runs @ 400sr and Xara Jetly's 7 runs @ 175sr as we saw yesterday. Wellington blokes and wahine attack, always.
Yesterday against Otago, every Wellington bowler took 2 wickets. Kasperek leads Wellington with 10w (5rpo/10.9sr) and the Kerr sisters join Kasperek in doing most of the heavy mahi. Amelia has 7w @ 4.05rpo/16.2sr and Jess has 8w @ 4.18rpo/8.2sr, while youngsters Jetly (6w @ 4.42rpo/14sr) and Maneka Singh (7w @ 4.50rpo/15.4sr) are also playing their roles nicely.
Key Wellington stat indicators are every batter expect Green having 100+ strike-rates and every bowler except Deanna Doughty bowling with strike-rates below 20. Doughty is Wellington's fourth spinner so no dramas there and this is about other role-players like Caitlin King and Thamsyn Newton taking 3w each in 4 overs or less. That's the same as J-Kerr cracking 38 runs of 27 balls in her three games.
Newton's kinda fascinating to ponder. Having played 15 T20I games since 2015, Newton had a three-year T20I absence and returned to the White Ferns this year to play six T20I games. Newton didn't bowl in any of these games and batted twice, essentially playing as a fielder. In the Super Smash, Newton has bowled 4ov and faced 16 deliveries which is fine when doing so with the efficiency that Newton's working with.
I'm confused about Newton's scope as a cricketer though. Newton has been around the White Ferns for a long time and like many fringe Ferns, Newton is given a minimal role when selected. There are signs in this Super Smash that Newton can impact games in low key fashion (not A-Kerr dominance) and if she can maintain her efficiency in taking wickets/scoring wickets from minimal chances, this could be translated to a White Ferns ODI World Cup gig.
Wellington have won every Super Smash game so far, without Devine or any runs from skipper Green. This is largely due to the Kerr sisters and Kasperek, while the fact that Singh, Jetly and Plimmer are all elevating their games with more experience is the low key yarn to tune into. There will be plenty of attention paid to Devine or A-Kerr and Wellington have immense player development expertise, so tuning in to see Plimmer carving up the off-side, Singh swinging her lefties or Jetly buzzing around everywhere is just as funky.
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Peace and love.