2023/24 Super Smash Scout: Tim Robinson, Georgia Plimmer And More from Wellington vs Otago
Wellington started their Super Smash campaigns with a double-banger of wins over Otago. Both Wellington teams batted first with different outcomes as the wahine put up 140/8 led by Georgia Plimmer's 41* @ 110sr and the blokes went extra large with Tim Robinson smacking 139 runs @ 217sr, taking Wellington to 234/5.
The Wellington women ripped through Otago's batting line up for 117 runs before the men restricted Otago for 160 runs. Despite the losses, Otago had a few strong performers who deserve a spotlight and this starts with PJ Watkins who took 4w @ 7rpo with her lefty seam.
Watkins was a notable addition to the domestic circuit this summer after shifting from England to Aotearoa. Otago's coach Craig Cumming outlined how this was a nifty bit of recruitment during the broadcast, although Watkins started slowly with 1w @ 97avg/5.3rpo in four innings of HBJ Shield.
Watkins joins a growing crop of lefties in women's cricket. Auckland have Bree Illing and Yssabel Cullen played a game for Canterbury in HBJ Shield. All three are funky young talents who deliver their lefty seam in their own way and Watkins flashed decent pace, plus a bit of movement which will be intriguing to track throughout Super Smash.
Similar to Watkins, Sophie Oldershaw took 2w @ 7.2rpo against Wellington after a slow start in HBJ Shield. Oldershaw didn't take a wicket in 16 overs in HBJ Shield and she is back in the wicket-taking groove, which is aligned with a strong T20 average of 22.5.
Jake Gibson also had a lovely outing for Otago with 56 runs @ 180sr in the opening slot which produced plenty of runs last summer. Gibson was second for Otago runs in last season's Super Smash with 33.2avg/148sr and this forms the foundations of a sneaky excellent T20 batting record of 29.4avg/151sr.
Plimmer's knock of 41* was almost more than the total number of runs she scored in three outing last season (49 runs @ 16avg/113sr). This was Plimmer's highest T20 score and she has hit her best HBJ Shield (147) and Super Smash scores this season, which didn't translate into White Ferns runs but this is a lovely sign that Plimmer is brewing in domestic cricket.
Leigh Kasperek started her Super Smash season with 3w @ 6.2rpo as Wellington’s leading wicket-taker vs Otago. Kasperek has a T20I bowling average of 14.4 and T20 bowling average of 15.6 which is far too good for White Ferns.
The ease with which Robinson whacks boundaries has always been evident, but he has battled a niggly lack of form prior to this season. Robinson scored 182 runs in two Super Smash campaigns combined prior to this summer, averaging 17.8 and then 7.6. Not only did Robinson almost cover that total in his one knock vs Otago, he has also elevated his Ford Trophy batting with 12.8avg in 2022/23 and now averaging 28.7 this season.
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