2022 Kiwi-WBBL: So Much Fun
Sydney Sixers are sitting first in Women's Big Bash League and Aotearoa's Suzie Bates leads Sixers for runs, also second for the most runs in WBBL08. Sixers are a point ahead of Perth Scorchers who have Maddy Green and Sophie Devine, while Amelia Kerr's Brisbane Heat sit fourth but are only a win behind Sixers heading into the next phase of games.
Hayley Jensen is battling away with Hobart Hurricanes in fifth. Hobart are on the fringe of WBBL08 finals but need a bunch of wins to catch up to Brisbane and Jensen has only taken wickets in one of her four games. Jensen has 2w @ 4.9rpo in 11 overs so far and has struggled to parlay her impressive T20I mahi into strong WBBL performances.
Sydney Thunder have had two wash-out games with one win from their five fixtures and Lea Tahuhu has 4w @ 6.5rpo in 18ov. Tahuhu was grinding through a five-game stretch of no wickets and broke that streak by dimissing Green, before taking 3w against Brisbane last week. Tahuhu hasn't bowled since and as Thunder are highly unlikely to play in the finals, it will be interesting to track Tahuhu's wicket-taking before she enters the Aotearoa summer.
Tahuhu had stretch of no wickets, Jess Kerr is cruising along a seven game streak of T20 wickets. As per the last update Kerr has dropped out of Brisbane's line up as she was initially a replacement player for Indian seamer Pooja Vastrakar and this sets up a lovely comparison between the two international seamers...
Jess Kerr: 12ov, 4w @ 15.75avg/5.25rpo/18sr.
Pooja Vastrakar: 11ov, 1w @ 94avg/8.54rpo/66sr.
Amelia Kerr is simmering as a low key force in WBBL08 with her exceptional all-round contributions. The younger Kerr sister has taken wickets in six consecutive games and scored 15+ runs in five of her six batting appearances. 15+ runs isn't a high bar, but A-Kerr is batting in the middle order for Brisbane and she is one of four Brisbane batters with 100+ runs; Kerr has the highest strike-rate of this group.
A-Kerr is playing her role effectively with the bat, while also taking 10w @ 6.78rpo as the busiest Brisbane bowler. Aussie spinner Jess Jonassen leads all wicket-takers in WBBL08 (13w @ 6.88rpo) and this international spin-duo will be a major weapon for Brisbane moving forward. No player in WBBL08 has more runs and wickets that A-Kerr, which sounds like a compelling case for a best all-rounder salute.
Devine could enter that best all-rounder equation and her batting progress through the back end of WBBL08 will be crucial for Perth. Devine has 70 runs @ 14avg/92.10sr so far with her first knock of 44* followed by four scores below 15. This fits into a wider dip in Devine's batting as she scored 70 runs @ 14avg/78.65sr in five games against West Indies.
Devine was Aotearoa's best batter at the Commonwealth Games with 177 runs @ 44.25avg/115.68sr and finished second for all batters. That tournament featured scores of 48, 24, 1, 53 and 51* as Devine followed on from her ODI World Cup campaign, leading White Ferns with bat, ball and mana. Now Devine appears to be in a batting slump, although she is chiming in with wickets (4w @ 6.4rpo) and Green is elevating her mahi.
Green has 110 runs @ 27.5avg/110sr as Green and Devine swapped T20 batting vibes. Green scored 30 runs @ 10avg/83.33sr at the Com Games and then scored the most runs for Aotearoa in the Caribbean, hitting 106 runs @ 35.33avg/112.76sr. Now Green is second for Perth runs and as Green has a T20I career strike-rate of 94, Green's 100+ batting strike-rates should excite kiwi cricket fans.
Perth are second with Devine batting well below par. Devine is still impacting games with her bowling and captaincy, which should lead to runs at some point in this tournament. The rise of Green in this Perth outfit and how she has been trending in recent months provides an enticing wrinkle to Perth's cricket.
Bates was Aotearoa's second best batter at the Com Games (151 runs @ 37.75avg/131.3sr) and finished fourth for all run-scorers. Then Bates dipped down to 82 runs @ 16.4avg/71.3sr in the Caribbean before hitting 203 runs @ 50.75avg/111.53sr in WBBL08.
In super-duper Sixers batting unit, Bates has settled as a cornerstone. Bates has the lowest strike-rate of the Sixers top-order but she has faced the most deliveries and scored the most runs, allowing the likes of Ash Gardner and Erin Burns to whack boundaries. Bates, Burns, Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy all have 50+ scores for Sixers, while Gardner has a strike-rate of 141 and flashed her ability with a knock of 43 @ 195.45sr last week.
If you're reading this, you probably love wahine cricket. Following Bates' mahi in this Sixers batting unit is excessively fun and a fabulous way to start the summer of kiwi cricket. Sixers seem like the best team and while Bates is playing her role, the likes of Devine and Green for Perth plus Kerr for Brisbane are poised to lay down their challenge. May the hearty history of kiwis in WBBL continue.
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Peace and love.