Canterbury Magicians are the only women's Super Smash team to interrupt the Wellington Blaze dynasty and their second championship in three seasons came with a young twist. Like the Northern Brave men's team, Canterbury wahine had to play in the elimination final where they met a Otago team who had beaten them in the two games prior to finals.

Canterbury batted first in the two losses before restricting Otago to 81/9 in an elimination final that was trimmed down to 13 overs due to rain. Sarah Asmussen took 5w @ 5.66rpo in that bowling effort which was especially funky given that Asmussen didn't take any wickets in the two losses to Otago a few days earlier. Laura Hughes, Amy Satterthwaite and Natalie Cox steered Canterbury to victory in their run-chase.

Coming up against Wellington in Super Smash finals is always tricky and as the White Ferns had departed for their T20 World Cup, Wellington were bolstered by two of the best imports in Aussies Laura Harris and Charli Knott. This seems to be the summer of Kate Anderson though and after a first-ball duck against Otago, Anderson blasted 95 runs @ 153.2sr to set a decent total of 145/9.

Abigale Gerken and Hughes were the only other Canterbury batters to score 10+ runs. Anderson was the only Canterbury batter to score over 120sr. Having left Northern to join Canterbury, Anderson played a key role in giving her bowlers some wiggle room against a powerful Welllington batting unit. Two of this summer's best Super Smash bowlers stepped up with Gabby Sullivan taking 3w @ 7.25rpo and Missy Banks taking 2w @ 4.25rpo as Wellington were all out for 133 in their 20 overs.

Along with Satterthwaite's crafy offies (2w @ 6.5rpo) and a tidy stint from Asmussen (6.75rpo), Canterbury deployed 18-year-old offie Abigail Hotton (7rpo) in the final. Hotton's first two games of Super Smash were finals as she also played in the elimination final after returning from the Under 19 T20 World Cup. While Hotton didn't take any wickets in these two games, she played her role in a Canterbury bowling unit that had been boiled down to just five bowlers used in both finals games.

18-year-old Izzy Sharp also played both finals games after returning from U19 duty, although Sharp already had domestic cricket experience. In a team with three White Ferns, Sharp was the Aotearoa U19 skipper and while she didn't dominate with runs in the U19 T20 WC or in Super Smash finals, Sharp joins Hotton as examples of Canterbury's impressive development mahi.

When Canterbury won the 2020/21 Super Smash championship they defeated Wellington with crucial performances from their leaders in Satterthwaite, Frances Mackcay, Kate Ebrahim and Lea Tahuhu. These four were the best players in the final and the best Cantabs across that season; Ebrahim averaged 73 with the bat, Mackay took 9w @ 9.55avg/4.81rpo, Tahuhu had a batting strike-rate of 154, Sattertwhaite finished with 52avg/132sr.

Anderson was playing for Northern at the time, while the young bowling trio of Banks, Sullivan and Asmussen all conceded over 7.5rpo with 1 wicket between them in the final.

Ebrahim now plays for Otago, Mackay is one of the best commentators in Aotearoa sport and Tahuhu left mid-season for White Ferns duty. Satterthwaite, Cox and Hughes are the three experienced troopers who played in both finals.

Satterthwaite was typically excellent this summer with a batting record of 53.71avg/117sr, plus 18.92avg/5.88rpo with the ball. Satterthwaite is the Canterbury fulcrum, an exceptional leader of wahine who offers composure in all aspects of T20 cricket. With talented youngsters around her, Satterthwaite's mana was palpable this summer.

Satterthwaite now retires from domestic cricket as well and she leaves Canterbury with a garden full of emerging sprouts. 26-year-old Anderson finished as the only Super Smash batter with 400+ runs and she blasted beyond that mark, scoring 536 runs @ 59.55avg/115sr. Along with Anderson's knock of 95 in the final, she enjoyed a stretch of three consecutive 50+ scores before her duck in the elimination final.

Last season Anderson averaged 21.25 with a strike-rate of 97 in Super Smash for Northern. Anderson made her debut in 2014/15 and prior to this season, she had not averaged over 22 in a Super Smash campaign nor had she hit more than one score over 50 in a season. Five scores over 50 this season, nudging 60avg and unfortunately for Northern they went 1-6 this summer.

Sullivan finished as the best bowler in Super Smash with 21w @ 12.38avg/5.88rpo and she took wickets in six consecutive games including finals. 24-year-old Sullivan is one of the best young seamers in Aotearoa with a T20 bowling record of 16avg/6.27rpo after 49 games, as well as a List-A record of 23.15avg/4rpo after 48 games.

Asmussen (22yrs) and Banks (21yrs) played key roles in finals, although they weren't quite as consistent as Sullivan. Asmussen finished with 15w @ 18.53avg/6.61rpo and Banks finished with 15w @ 22avg/7.56rpo, while both also have strong T20 records. Asmussen averages 25 in both formats after 30-odd games and Banks has quickly emerged as an elite T20 seamer with 20.21avg/7.3rpo after 52 games.

Anderson, Sullivan, Amussen and Banks elevated their mahi to fill the void left by Canterbury's veterans from their 2020/21 championship. 20-year-old Gerken flashed her potential with 21 runs @ 116sr in the final opening alongside Anderson, which along with Sharp and Hotton will keep Canterbury grooving as Satterthwaite steps aside.

Satterthwaite is currently second for Aotearoa ODI runs and third for Aotearoa T20I runs. HBJ Shield games are being played this weekend so her List-A stats will be updated and as of Sunday morning, Satterthwaite averages 40.82 with the bat and 25.89 with the ball. In T20 cricket, Satterthwaite has a record of 29.35avg/104.99sr with the bat and 21.33avg/6.51rpo with the ball.

Everyone knows Satterthwaite is a legend of Aotearoa cricket and in Canterbury, Satterthwaite's mana is that of the Southern Alps. While her White Ferns retirement contained a splash of ick and wasn't the farewell Satterthwaite deserved, she bows out of cricket as a champion. More importantly, Satterthwaite leaves Canterbury cricket with a winning culture and in vibrant health.

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