2022/23 Super Smash: Update #2
Wellington are the only undefeated team in the blokes Super Smash and their hot start features a few funky wrinkles to explore. Rachin Ravindra is a leading nugget for Wellington as he is 3rd for runs with 83 runs @ 41.5avg/145.61sr and ranked 7th for bowlers with 3w @ 21avg/9rpo.
Ravindra has a T20 batting record of 16.62avg/125sr and he is grooving well above those markers this season. Ravindra is hovering around his T20 bowling record of 25.96avg/7.31rpo and alongside Peter Younghusband, Wellington have a spin-tandem that is consistently solid as well as probably being available for the entire tournament.
Adam Milne has 3w @ 20.33avg/7.62rpo. While he was already back in the wider Blackcaps mix, most players who move to Wellington get a bump in performance. How this looks for Milne in the next cluster of games will set up his tour with Blackcaps, while Wellington could call upon Ben Sears to plug that hole if/when he returns to action.
Nick Kelly also moved to Wellington for this summer. Kelly has scored 74 runs @ 37avg/200sr as an opener alongside Finn Allen, which is a notable leap up from his strike-rate last season of 117.91. Kelly has a T20 career strike-rate of 129.81 and the blueprint laid down by Allen is now evident in Kelly's aggressive batting.
This gives Wellington two hyper-aggressive openers. Canterbury have Chad Bowes who leads all run-scorers with 108 runs @ 158.82sr. There is a hyper-aggressive opening prototype and Katene Clarke is another example of this for Northern.
While Dane Cleaver didn't play this role in Central's first game, he is especially intriguing as he commanded a Blackcaps call up thanks to his aggressive slugging. Cleaver finished 2nd for runs with 369 runs @ 46.12/166.21sr and of 14 batters who scored 200+ runs last season, only Josh Clarkson (201 runs @ 187.85sr) and Allen (280 runs @ 200sr) had higher strike-rates than Cleaver.
In Ford Trophy, Cleaver was opening the batting and he's sitting on 225 runs @ 45avg/94.53sr. Central opened with Greg Hay and Ben Smith in their first Super Smash game, leaving an almighty middle-order of Cleaver, Luteru Taylor, Tom Bruce and Josh Clarkson. All of whom love to whack a cricket ball.
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