2021/22 Women's Super Smash: Wellington vs Otago (Final Preview)
Otago handled their mahi in the Super Smash wahine elimination final against Auckland and now flip the vibe around as they now face a Wellington team that has handled their mahi against Otago in their two previous encounters. The Friday email dispatch will feature notes on the two losing teams from the blokes and wahine elimination finals, so tap in for some Auckland observations as everything was fairly status-quo in how that game played out.
Wellington and Otago have clearly been the two best team of the Super Smash. Each team has a couple White Ferns legends, players around the Ferns who have ample domestic cricket experience and Aotearoa's best young female talent sits with these two teams. Their similarities are such that each team has a dominant force opening the batting (Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine) alongside two younger openers who have their own wrinkles of funk.
Wellington have promoted 17-year-old (almost 18) batter Georgia Plimmer to open this season in place of Rebecca Burns and Plimmer has 130 runs @ 109.24sr. This is an underground note that is easily overlooked when every Wellington batter except Jess McFadyen (only 10 deliveries faced) is batting with strike-rates over 100, making this appear far more normal than it actually is.
Plimmer is 17-year-old with a strike-rate over 100. That's fantastic and her strike-rate of 109 is higher than all of Auckland's notable batters.
25-year-old Polly Inglis opens alongside Bates and her strike-rate is 93.04 - again highlighting Plimmer's vibe. Inglis provides a funky challenge for opposition bowlers though as she can guide deliveries past the wicket-keeper with the back of her bat on the off side, lap down the leg side and generally apply her National Hockey League level hockey ability to batting. Against Auckland, Inglis scored 19 runs @ 111.76sr and Polly is the younger sister of Black Stick veteran Hugo. Anyone who has seen Hugo play hockey might agree that the Inglis whanau have a different level of hand-eye skills.
We know Devine and Bates will open. There are funky wrinkles like their opening partners though that could prove to be crucial if the best players all roll out impressive performances. 20 runs of 12-15 deliveries from Plimmer might be crucial in the same way that Inglis' variety of strokes could provide a different angle against Wellington's bowlers.
Hmm that Wellington bowling attack though...
Wellington’s Best Bowlers
Jess Kerr: 1st - 17w @ 4.68rpo/10.2sr.
Leigh Kasperek: 2nd - 17w @ 4.75rpo/12.sr.
Amelia Kerr: 3rd - 16w @ 4.50rpo/14.2sr.
Xara Jetly: 8th - 13w @ 4.70rpo/12.4sr.
Maneka Singh: 16th - 9w @ 4.60rpo/18.6sr.
Otago’s Best Bowlers
Eden Carson: 5th - 16w @ 5.21rpo/15.7sr.
Sophie Oldershaw: 6th - 14w @ 5rpo/18.4sr.
Emma Black: 8th - 14w @ 6.57rpo/18sr.
Kate Ebrahim: 9th - 13w @ 6.44rpo/16.4sr.
Molly Loe: 13th - 10w @ 7.25rpo/13.9sr
Hayley Jensen: 15th - 9w @ 4.18rpo/10.6sr.
Eight of the top-10 bowlers come from these two teams. This helped Otago take 7 wickets in their first game vs Wellington, followed by 8 wickets. The only other game in which Wellington have lost more than 5 wickets was their most recent game against Northern (154/9), meaning Otago have been the most effective bowling team against Wellington.
Otago lost both those games however, rolled for 91 and 75. These are the only games in which Otago have lost all 10 wickets and how Otago combat the best bowling attack in the Super Smash will be an intriguing challenge. Otago's top-four batters will be crucial (Bates, Inglis, Katey Martin, Kate Ebrahim) as they are the only Otago batters with 100+ runs.
Hayley Jensen, Caitlin Blakely and Olivia Gain all have strike-rates over 100. This trio have a lovely opportunity to chime in with middle-order runs against the best team, in the biggest game.
Jensen has not played against Wellington this summer. That's a funky x-factor as Jensen has 9w @ 4.18rpo/10.6sr and the only bowler with 5+ wickets and a better strike-rate is Jess Kerr. Jensen also had a knock of 14* @ 127.27sr vs Canterbury (Jan 23) and has looked in fine form since returning from Australia. Wellington have smoked Otago twice this season and Jensen may be keen to ensure that doesn't happen with her around.
Otago will either need early wickets to chip away at the Devine/Plimmer/A-Kerr/Maddy Green top-order, or somehow find a way to restrict the flow of runs. Wellington's batting unit is a wee bit scary and capable of blowing Otago away, providing a funky test for an Otago bowling unit that has made swift developments since last season.
Wellington Best Batters
Amelia Kerr: 2nd - 326 runs @ 36.22avg/115.19sr.
Leigh Kasperek: 15th - 159 runs @ 26.50avg/108.90sr.
Rebecca Burns: 19th - 140 runs @ 17.50avg/106.06sr.
Otago Best Batters
Suzie Bates: 1st - 501 runs @ 62.62avg/115.70sr.
Katey Martin: 7th - 214 runs @ 21.40avg/100sr.
Polly Inglis: 8th - 214 runs @ 21.40avg/93.07sr.
Kate Ebrahim: 16th - 149 runs @ 24.83avg/94.90sr
That Wellington best batters list does not include Devine's 61 runs @ 141.86sr, or J-Kerr emerging as a legit slugger with 92 runs @ 150.81sr. This presents a funky narrative from last season when Otago were a young outfit without Bates or Ebrahim and fell victim to a knock of 108* runs @ 284.21sr from Devine. Their second game against Wellington saw Devine crack 80 runs @ 181.81sr and A-Kerr hit 66 runs @ 153.48sr.
That's four consecutive losses vs Wellington in the Super Smash for Otago. It's the way Otago lost those games last season that is funky here as their young bowling unit got a swift lesson in the quality of Devine and A-Kerr. This season, Otago are on a whole new wave and they enter this game with all four of their young bowlers among the best Super Smash bowlers. A splash of confidence, plus guidance from their veterans could see Otago dive further into their impressive development.
Straight up, Wellington are heavy favourites. Otago will need to showcase their nous with funky plans to limit what Wellington's best players can do, otherwise the likes of Devine, the Kerr sisters, Kasperek and Green can ensure that Otago never really have a chance.
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Peace and love.