The Many Layers Of Wellington Wahine Excellence (2021/22 Super Smash Champions)
Wellington wahine have stashed away their fourth Super Smash championship in five summers after defeating Otago in yesterday's final. Wellington went 10-0 during the campaign which included two wins over Otago and then took it a step further by jacking 175/4, before rolling Otago for 100. Only Wellington wahine can make the second best team appear out of their depth and credit needs to dished out to Otago here as their final loss doesn't take away from impressive developments.
Wellington wahine are a vibe.
That vibe starts with Sophie Devine, yet you'd be wise to look throughout the Wellington group to get a true whiff of their excellence. Devine cracked 92 runs @ 148.38sr in her fourth game of the season and also took 2w @ 4rpo with the ball. Devine is the best in the world at the most entertaining thing of the most visible format in women's cricket (power hitting in T20) and this leads to a lot of newsy highlights. Devine's also setting the winning vibe within two organisations.
This is Devine's first WBBL/Super Smash double. Her Wellington comrades Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green won the WBBL title with Brisbane and then won the Super Smash in 2019/20, while Devine's first WBBL championship came late last year with Perth. That 2019/20 WBBL final saw Devine playing alongside Suzie Bates for Adelaide and they lost to Brisbane, then Devine was brought back to Perth as a marquee monster.
2021 WBBL: 13inns, 407 runs @ 33.91avg/130.86sr | 24ov, 9w @ 19.22avg/7.20rpo/16sr.
2021 Super Smash: 4inns, 153 runs @ 51avg/145.71sr | 12.1ov, 7w @ 8.71avg/5.01rpo/10.4sr
Wellington are so much more than Devine though. Maddy Green is the skipper and after a slow start to the Super Smash, Green hit 51* and 106 in back to back HBJ Shied games before stretching that into scores of 30, 28, 11*, 39*, 2 and 55 in the Super Smash. Green's 55 in the final came with a strike-rate of 157.14 and featured Green at her best as length deliveries found the middle of her bat, while full deliveries got a classy nudge straight down the ground.
Green didn't really need to be in fine form throughout the Super Smash as this other chick Amelia Kerr was going alright with 346 runs @ 34.60avg/115.33sr. Such is A-Kerr's batting prowess that it felt like a game-changing type of moment when Eden Carson dismissed her lbw for 20, then Green came to the crease and played the type of knock that Michael Bracewell would toast to.
Need to score at 8.75rpo? You probably don't want to face the Wellington bowling attack of Devine, A-Kerr, Jess Kerr, Maneka Singh, Leigh Kasperek and Xara Jetly.
Take out Devine and the five Wellington bowlers who played at least nine games all took 10+ wickets, with strike-rates below 20 and economy rates below 5rpo. That's bonkers.
We would expect such dominance from the Kerr sisters and Kasperek. These three are certified White Ferns who continue to impress with how slick they are at this level, while Singh and Jetly are consistently solid. More importantly, Singh and Jety are winning players comfortable in their roles - even though they are youngsters on the rise.
The three White Ferns bowlers finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd for wickets (Kasperek, J-Kerr, A-Kerr) while Jetly finished 8th for wickets and Singh 13th. Jetly and Singh are young role-players who are happy to fall back when Devine pops in to the team, or only bowl a few overs here and there. Jetly and Singh finished better than every Auckland bowler, Nensi Patel and Rosemary Mair were the only Northern and Central bowlers ahead of Singh, while Missy Banks was the only Canterbury bowler ahead of Jetly and Singh.
I've thrown up the Georgia Plimmer stuff a bit over the past week because she is another tremendous example of young Wellington funk. Plimmer is 17-years-old and didn't do much in the final (3 off 6), but she still finishes the tournament with a strike-rate over 100. That's a sign of talent first and foremost, but also points to a youngster enjoying their mahi with clear understanding of her role.
When Devine returned, Rebecca Burns dropped down the order to allow for the Devine/Plimmer opening combo. Thamsyn Newton is good enough at cricket to represent Aotearoa and is willing to barely bat or bowl, for the good of her team while she pours her energy into helping her team in any way she can. Wicket-keeper Jess McFadyen played 11 games and batted four times as she was stuck down the order despite usually batting up top in HBJ Shield.
That's a winning team. Let's not forget that around this time last year, Devine and A-Kerr were battling the dark arts. We all see the headlines and those type of headlines get a lot more attention than what these ladies do on a cricket field, which is an intriguing thing when their lighter vibe is truly expressed on the cricket field through their excellence. Devine and A-Kerr reclaimed their mana and here we are, admiring their personal and cricketing mahi.
That's the Wellington vibe. Skipper Green has consistently improved throughout this Wellington wahine dynasty. Kasperek continues to soar under the radar. J-Kerr's development with bat and ball is only matched by her younger sister. Role-players like Burns, Newton and McFadyen are empowered to chime in even though they might not be required. All while this group brings the best out of the young trio in Plimmer, Singh and Jetly - who were joined by Caitlin King and Natasha Codyre throughout the season.
Young wahine cricketers tell the story of Aotearoa cricket. They allude to the changing landscape in Aotearoa sport, they highlight issues at the higher level and they provide an insight into how the domestic organisations are operating. Wellington wahine are in the midst of a Super Smash dynasty because every marker of a successful organisation is accounted for. Wellington wahine are currently the most dominant domestic team in Aotearoa (all sports) and you'd be wise to tap in, learn how it's happening and thus open up to learning about wahine cricket in Aotearoa.
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Peace and love.