The Auckland vs Northern Districts derby played out in tune with the respective Super Smash ladders as the Brave wahine defeated Hearts, while the Aces were too good for the Brave men. Auckland Hearts and the ND men are both stuck at the bottom of their ladders, combining for four wins this season while Aces have locked in a home final at the top of the men's competition and the Brave women need a win over Otago Sparks to sneak into finals cricket.

ND batted first in the women's game, putting up 145/9 thanks to 20+ scores from Caitlin Gurrey (28 runs @ 133sr), Nensi Patel (31 runs @ 96sr), Marina Lamplough (25 runs @ 178sr) and Eimear Richardson (22 runs @ 115sr). Josie Penfold was Auckland's best bowler with 3w @ 7.7rpo, while Fran Jonas (8.2rpo) and Amie Hucker (5rpo) took 2w each.

Auckland finished all out for 106 in reply as Marama Downes snared 5w @ 3.6rpo. Chamari Athapaththu's 2w @ 4.7rpo and Marina Lamplough's 2w @ 5.6rpo offered wickets in support of Downes, as Prue Catton led Auckland for runs with a lovely knock of 53 runs @ 120sr.

Two things about Auckland...

Despite having two White Ferns in their bowling attack, Auckland have not taken all 10 wickets in a game this season.

Catton has had a steady season that has blossomed in 2024. Catton (186 runs @ 23avg/105sr) is second behind Maddy Green as Auckland's leading run-scorer and she is also second behind Green for runs in HBJ Shield (126 runs @ 25avg/56sr). In Super Smash, Catton has scored 20+ runs in five of her eight innings and along with Skye Bowden, these two are the best youngsters in the Hearts group.

There isn't a whole lot of funk in the Brave batting unit, just solid domestic troopers going about their mahi ... and Athapaththu. Here's how the ND batting unit has performed this season and they will need them to fire against Otago with a spot in the finals on the line...

• Chamari Athapaththu: 164 runs @ 23avg/130sr

• Caitlin Gurrey: 164 runs @ 20avg/99sr

• Eimear Richardson: 151 runs @ 21avg/101sr

• Marina Lamplough: 130 runs @ 16avg/107sr

• Nensi Patel: 118 runs @ 19avg/95sr

• Jess Watkin: 113 runs @ 12avg/110sr

Downes continues her fantastic season with the 5-wicket-haul taking her to 14w @ 11avg/5.2rpo. There is an intriguing comparison on offer here with Molly Penfold who has 5w @ 31avg/7.2rpo this season and Downes joins another White Fern in Amelia Kerr as the only bowlers with baggies of 5w this season. Downes is also second to Kerr as the most economical bowlers in Super Smash; they are the only bowlers with 7+ wickets (19 bowlers) who have conceded less than 5.4rpo.

Downes also has 7w @ 23avg/4.4rpo in HBJ Shield. After bowling just 2ov in her debut Super Smash campaign last season, Downes has embedded herself in the Brave 1st 11 across both formats and this sets up an enticing match up between her and Otago seamer Emma Black. Ahead of this game, Downes and Black are the best seamers in Super Smash who lead each team for wickets. They also go about their mahi in different ways as Downes relies on accuracy and nibble, while Black bowls hooping in-swingers to right-handed batters.

Auckland Aces set up their win with all six batters used scoring 20+ runs, while five of those lads had strike-rates over 140...

• George Worker: 33 runs @ 150sr

• Sean Solia: 21 runs @ 161sr

• Cole Briggs: 24 runs @ 104sr

• Robert O'Donnell: 47 runs @ 142sr

• Cam Fletcher: 24* @ 160sr

• William O'Donnell: 24* @ 171sr

This gave Auckland 181/4 and the Brave could only muster 137 runs in reply. Auckland had Danru Ferns (3w @ 6.7rpo) and Louis Delport (3w @ 7.2rpo) serving up their typically excellent mahi. Sean Solia also took 2w @ 6.5rpo and Ben Lister's 1w @ 4.7rpo is another example of his fringe-Blackcaps quality.

Auckland have a fabulous trio of bowlers who have played every game and all three have taken 10+ wickets, conceding less than 7.5rpo...

• Danru Ferns: 18w @ 13avg/7.3rpo

• Louis Delport: 14w @ 15avg/6.8rpo

• Ben Lister: 13w @ 14avg/6.4rpo

After back to back Super Smash championships, Northern Brave can be forgiven for a slumpy Super Smash season. The youngsters still offer the most intrigue as Tim Pringle is the best Brave bowler and also flexed as a capable hitter, while it this season was more niggly for Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke and Matt Fisher...

• Tim Pringle: 93 runs @ 23avg/122sr | 10w @ 24avg/8.3rpo

• Katene Clarke: 166 runs @ 18avg/116sr

• Matt Fisher: 5w @ 38avg/11.3rpo

• Kristian Clarke: 3w @ 51avg/8.3rpo

Watch our for how these lads slide back into Ford Trophy after their final Super Smash game vs Otago. Pringle's worst format is List-A (60.4avg/5.3rpo) and this flips for Katene Clarke (29.3avg/93sr), Kristian Clarke (19.3avg/5rpo) and Fisher (23.8avg/5rpo) who all have LA as their best format.

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Peace and love.