Canterbury took their turn to invade Alexandra and snatch two wins away from the hosts Otago. Canterbury Magicians were led by runs from Frances Mackay (51 runs @ 110sr) and Kate Anderson (43 runs @ 134sr), before Lea Tahuhu and Sarah Asmussen took 3 wickets each to help roll the Sparks for 69 in pursuit of 145/7.

Canterbury Kings kept a lid on Otago's batting innings with Zak Foulkes snaring 3w @ 8rpo, along with a brief but tidy offering from Cole McConchie (1w @ 3.5rpo). Otago still managed to hit 171/5 with powerful knocks from Hamish Rutherford (52 runs @ 133sr), Glenn Phillips (38 runs @ 126sr), Max Chu (34* @ 188sr) and Dale Phillips (32* @ 200sr).

Canterbury chased down their target with an over to spare after a hot start from Henry Nicholls (59 runs @ 178sr) and another leadership knock from McConchie (39 runs @ 125sr). Michael Rippon provided a steady hand (12* @ 80sr) as BJ Jacobs had a whack (19 runs @ 158sr) and Foulkes hit the winning runs in a sneaky knock (13* @ 144sr) that showcased his batting class.

Foulkes batting eighth is a luxury for Canterbury and while Jacobs is a funky hitter to keep track of, Foulkes effortlessly carves boundaries. Foulkes' Super Smash batting strike-rate of 142 is aligned with an efficient bowling strike-rate of 14.4. As noted below, Canterbury's batting line up is full of monster strike-rates and Foulkes fits in there while his bowling strike-rate is second only to McConchie's 12sr.

Canterbury men Super Smash batting strike-rates (2+ inns)...

Chad Bowes: 34sr
Henry Nicholls: 156sr
Leo Carter: 140sr
Cole McConchie: 147sr
Mitch Hay: 151sr
Michael Rippon: 138sr
BJ Jacobs: 190sr
Zak Foulkes: 142sr#SuperSmashNZ
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 3, 2024

McConchie has only bowled 4 overs @ 5.5rpo so far though, making Foulkes the only Canterbury bowler who has bowled 5+ overs with a strike-rate below 17.

In keeping with the legend of Nicholls, he's scored runs across all formats in Aotearoa this season. Nicholls churned out two Plunket Shield centuries, then had a knock of 95 in ODIs vs Bangladesh and his 59 runs vs Otago gives him 83 runs @ 156sr in Super Smash.

Heading into the Auckland vs Wellington games today (Thursday the 4th), five batters have 100+ runs in Super Smash. Cole McConchie is third for runs behind Tim Robinson and Jeet Raval, while slightly ahead of Doug Bracewell and Dane Cleaver. Robinson is the only bloke with more sixes (11) in Super Smash than McConchie (8).

Frances Mackay is still one of the best wahine cricketers in NZ...

HBJ Shield: 163 runs @ 40avg/77sr | 7w @ 27avg/3.8rpo
Super Smash: 93 runs @ 31avg/93sr | 4w @ 11avg/4.6rpo#HBJShield #SuperSmashNZ
— The Niche Cache (@thenichecache) January 3, 2024

Apart from the continued excellence of Frances Mackay, Kate Anderson is an intriguing batter for the Canterubry wahine. Anderson didn't score a run in HBJ Shield, registering two ducks from her two innings. This was followed by a knock of 7 runs @ 77sr in her only appearace for White Ferns vs Pakistan and since then, Anderson has hit 103 runs @ 25avg/107sr in Super Smash.

Anderson is one of three batters with 100+ runs, joining Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr. Mackay is the only other batter in Super Smash with 90+ runs and she has 4w @ 4.6rpo which is exactly the same as Lea Tahuhu. Gabby Sullivan's also got 4w @ 7.11rpo while Sarah Asmussen has settled as Canterbury's best bowler in both competitions this summer.

Asmussen has 5w @ 15avg/5rpo in Super Smash and 10w @ 23avg/4.3rpo in HBJ Shield. She has wickets in nine of her 10 games this season and the one game in which Asmussen didn't take a wicket was the recent loss vs Central Districts where Asmussen was the only bowler from either team operating below 5rpo (4.3rpo). Nine bowlers have 5+ wickets as of Thursday morning and only two have been cheaper than Asmussen's 5.06rpo; Marama Downes (4rpo) and Jess Watking (4.6rpo) for Northern Brave.