2025/26 HBJ Shield: First Round Basics

Auckland and Central Districts started the women’s domestic cricket season with a couple of wins, while Northern Districts and Wellington shared their weekend series with a win each.

Auckland

2-0 vs Otago | 9 points

Best Performers

  • Prue Catton: 112 runs @ 112avg/82sr

  • Maddy Green: 74 runs @ 74avg/72sr

  • Brooke Halliday: 52 runs @ 73sr

  • Fran Jonas: 5w @ 9.6avg/3.4rpo

  • Amie Hucker: 5w @ 12.2avg/3.5rpo

Notebook

Auckland had the most 50+ scores with three (Catton, Green, Halliday) and the most bowlers who took 3 wickets across the weekend with five (Jonas, Hucker, Green, Josie and Molly Penfold).

Jonas has 2+ wickets in eight of her last 10 games.

Green has a List-A batting average of 34.6 and bowling average of 29.

Catton scored less than 5 runs in six consecutive games before scores of 25 and 87* vs Otago.

Hucker took 3 wickets in eight games prior to her 3 and 2 wickets vs Otago.

Halliday has three 50+ scores in her last four innings.

Penfold sisters in LA cricket...

  • Josie: 18.5avg/66sr | 42avg/5.5rpo

  • Molly: 5.5avg/50sr | 31.5avg/5.3rpo

Northern Districts

1-1 vs Wellington | 5 points

Best Performers

  • Natasha Wakelin: 73 runs @ 36.5avg/70sr

  • Holly Topp: 52 runs @ 26avg/62sr

  • Lucy Boucher: 5w @ 6.2avg/2.5rpo

  • Kayley Knight: 2w @ 14.5avg/3.2rpo

Notebook

Wakelin has a LA batting average of 14 and is trending towards the light...

  • 2022/23: 44 runs @ 8.8avg

  • 2023/24: 92 runs @ 13.1avg, 1 x 50

  • 2024/25: 137 runs @ 13.7avg, 1 x 50

  • 2025/26: 73 runs @ 36.5avg, 1 x 50

Boucher has always been good in HBJ Shield but played five games in each of the last two seasons. Career average of 26.5 in LA bowling and she took 10 wickets in those 10 games across the last two seasons.

Knight took 2w @ 1.5rpo in the second game. She has a LA bowling average of 22.6 which is among the lowest averages for younger seam bowlers.

Halliday, Cattion and ND's Eve Wolland were the only players to hit a six in the first two games. She also hit a six last season and scored 157 runs @ 26.1avg/66sr.

Topp's scored 45 runs in five innings last season, then she scored 52 runs vs Canterbury. She may soon pass her career-high 88 runs from 2021/22.

Central Districts

2-0 vs Canterbury | 8 points

Best Performers

  • Hannah Rowe: 96 runs @ 48avg/74sr

  • Kerry Tomlinson: 85 runs @ 42.5avg/84sr

  • Georgia Atkinson: 69 runs @ 34.5avg/78sr

  • Kate Gaging: 63 runs @ 31.5avg/78sr

  • Elizabeth Cohr: 4w @ 8.7avg/3.5rpo

  • Rosemary Mair: 4w @ 13.2avg/3.7rpo

  • Claudia Green: 4w @ 22.5avg/7.5rpo

Notebook

Rowe has a LA batting average of 21.4 and bowling average of 26.1.

Tomlinson's last 10 scores: 48, 12, 9, 30, 39, 25*, 39*, 39, 70, 15. She scored 312 runs @ 104avg/102sr in HBJ Shield last season.

Green took 6 wickets in HBJ Shield last season and started this season with 4 wickets in 12 overs.

Cate Pederson doesn't have a 50+ score in LA batting but she does have four 20+ scores in her last 10 innings, including scores of 43 and 42. Pederson hit 42 runs @ 100sr in the first game vs Canterbury and her overall strike-rate of 95.8 is second in HBJ Shield (behind Anderson's 110.9sr).

Wellington

1-1 vs Northern Districts | 5 points

Best Performers

  • Georgia Plimmer: 48 runs @ 48avg/70sr

  • Xara Jetly: 41 runs @ 41avg/41sr

  • Jess Simmons: 4w @ 12avg/4.7rpo

  • Natasha Codyre: 4w @ 17.2avg/3.8rpo

  • Jess Kerr: 3w @ 17.3avg/3.2rpo

Notebook

Jetly has a LA bowling average of 22.9. Here are her last five seasons with the bat...

  • 2021/22: 13 runs @ 6.5avg

  • 2022/23: 2 runs @ 0.6avg

  • 2023/24: 34 runs @ 17avg

  • 2024/25: 98 runs @ 19.6avg

  • 2025/26: 41 runs @ 41avg

Codyre has 3+ wickets in three of her last five innings.

Simmons took 9w @ 47.5 last season for Canterbury and had 2 wickets in each of her first two games for Wellington.

Kerr's LA career mahi: 18.6avg/92sr | 24avg/4.1rpo.

Canterbury

0-2 vs Central Districts | 0 points

Best Performers

  • Kate Anderson: 172 runs @ 172avg/111sr | 3w @ 10avg/8.1rpo

  • Jodie Dean: 53 runs @ 26.5av/62sr

  • Gabby Sullivan: 4w @ 15.7avg/3.3rpo

Notebook

Anderson has five centuries and 12 halfies in LA batting with an average of 33.7. She has back to back LA seasons with a century and she has a century in three of her last four seasons. Anderson's century last season came in her last round of HBJ Shield and she scored 62 runs in the next game so she had three consecutive 50+ scores before her knock of 1 run last Sunday.

Dean has LA batting and bowling averages of 23. She doesn't have a 50+ score in LA batting but she has four 20+ scores in a row.

Sullivan took 7w @ 55avg last season, then she took 1 and 3 wickets vs CD. She also took 5w @ 6avg/3rpo for Cook Islands in the recent Kartini Cup (T20).

Otago

0-2 vs Auckland | 0 points

Best Performers

  • Saffron Wilson: 92 runs @ 46avg/76sr

  • Louisa Kotkamp: 2w @ 18.5avg/5.2rpo

Notebook

Wilson was the only Otago batter who scored more than 41 runs in the first two games. She has already scored more runs this season than she did in six innings last season (78 runs).

20-year-old Kotkamp has a LA bowling average of 23.9 in eight games.

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Peace and love.