Auckland are leading the HBJ Shield ladder after two wins over Central Districts and they are undefeated so far with a 3-0 record. The other weekend series were split as Wellington and Northern Districts shared a win each, as did Canterbury and Otago. These results have Wellington in second with a 2-2 record and with Auckland, they are the only teams who have at least two wins to start the season.

The first weekend featured Aotearoas emerging talent stamping their mark on HBJ Shield cricket and this was followed by White Ferns dominance. Maddy Green was not dismissed for Auckland at her home ground with scores of 91* and 77* which was a lovely boost for her summer after starting with a duck against ND. In her last 10 games, Green has three 50+ scores, two 40+ sores and four scores of 5 runs or less.

Wellington's win over ND on Saturday saw them whack 316/4 thanks to Georiga Plimmer's 147 runs @ 105sr. Leigh Kasperek also chimed in with 89 runs ahead of her stint with the NZ 11 against a touring Pakistan team, plus there was an intriguing knock from 17-year-old Kate Chandler who scored 19* @ 237sr. Chandler backed that up with 40 runs in the loss on Sunday where she was Wellington's top-scorer as they were dismissed for 188 chasing ND's 246.

Plimmer showcased her punchy off-side strokes that have been a staple of her White Ferns mahi, although Plimmer has struggled to build innings in sporadic game time for Aotearoa. This is evident in Plimmer having high scores of 23* in ODIs (17avg) and 17 in T20Is (9avg) as well as Plimmer not registering a 50+ score in domestic cricket prior to her big ol' 147.

Two more notable batters to tap in with are Mikaela Greig for CD and Frances Mackay for Canterbury. Greig is the leading run-scorer in HBJ Shield right now after scores of 84*, 39, 31 and 78. The 28-year-old had her best List-A knock with the 84* and in four games this season, Greig has doubled her tally of 50+ scores (two to four).

Mackay had scores of 61 and 50 in the series vs Otago after a knock of 6* in the opening weekend. This is aligned with her LA average of 42.7 which blows most domestic batters away as one of the best averages for wahine in Aotearoa. The presence of Mackay in Canterbury's batting unit is enticing because she leads the way for young batters Izzy Sharp and Jodie Dean, who are both averaging 30+ to start the season as well as being Canterbury's next best batters behind Mackay.

Aotearoa's best spinners also stacked up wickets with Eden Carson chillin' at the top of the wicket-taking charts alongside CD's Claudia Green. Carson took 3w in both games against Canterbury and has 2+ wickets in all four games so far, which will soon see her LA average of 26 drop down closer to her T20 average of 17.

Auckland's Fran Jonas made her first appearance of the season with 1w in the Saturday game vs CD followed by 4w on Sunday. This comes after Jonas took 3w @ 31avg/6.9rpo in the Caribbean Premier League and the tour of South Africa in which she took 1w in three games. Jonas's last 10 games feature 2w in seven innings bowled, so her tally of 5w in one weekend is a lovely start to her season.

Canterbury's Sarah Asmussen is also in a groove with wickets in every game so far and 2w in each game against Otago. Of the five bowlers who have 8+ wickets in HBJ Shield, Asmussen and Carson are the only spinners with Asmussen building a solid bowling record of 24avg in LA and 25avg in T20. Asmussen and Chandler are the best spinners in HBJ Shield outside of the White Ferns mixer at the moment, with Wellington's Chandler taking 4w in the Saturday game vs ND. That's only one performance from Chandler but she is averaging 21 in LA.

The best seamers are also emerging wahine. Green took a 5-for against Auckland which gives her 10w and she is followed by Otago's Emma Black on 9w. Canterbury's Gabby Sullivan has 8w and aside from White Fern Hannah Rowe's strong start with 7w, this cluster of seamers features youngsters making their mark early in the season; 20-year-olds Natasha Codyre (7w), Kayley Knight and Bree Illing (6w) are all in the top-10 for wickets.

In true White Ferns fashion, the NZ 11 squad doesn't reflect the best players in domestic cricket. Aside from Plimmer, Sullivan, Kasperek and Knight, many of the NZ 11 squad have struggled in the first two rounds...

• Leigh Kasperek: 130 runs @ 32avg/87sr | 2w @ 61avg/3.7rpo

• Bella Armstong: 36 runs @ 12avg/63sr

• Ocean Bartlett: 14 runs @ 4avg/29sr | 1w @ 81avg/5rpo

• Flora Devonshire: 42 runs @ 14avg/75sr | 1w @ 81avg/5.7rpo

• Olivia Gain: 49 runs @ 12avg/73sr

• Izzy Gaze: 64 runs @ 21avg/68r

• Abby Gerken: 17 runs @ 8avg/47sr

• Bella James: 39 runs @ 9avg/56sr

• Kayley Knight: 7 runs @ 7avg/17sr | 6w @ 19avg/5rpo

• Rosemary Mair: 80 runs @ 40avg/83sr | 1w @ 67avg/3.7rpo

• Nensi Patel: 48 runs @ 16avg/78sr | 4w @ 30avg/4rpo

• Gabby Sullivan: 8 runs @ 8avg/88sr | 8w @ 19avg/4.8rpo

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