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The Māori Wāhine National Cricket Tournament got underway with A pōwhiri - a Māori welcoming ceremony - on 13th October in Heretaunga, Hastings.
The Māori Wāhine National Cricket Tournament got underway with A pōwhiri - a Māori welcoming ceremony - on 13th October in Heretaunga, Hastings.
Teams played for the Rona McKenzie Taonga, in honour of the first White Ferns’ Māori captain Rona McKenzie (Ngāti Awa).
Rona’s great-nephew Darren McKenzie-Potter commented on the significance of the trophy in McKenzie’s name.
“The whānau are incredibly happy to see Rona honoured for her contribution to women’s cricket both on the field as a player and after her retirement as a coach, mentor, manager and administrator,” said McKenzie-Potter, speaking ahead of the tournament.
“Rona would be very humbled, but also proud to have the trophy named after her,”
NZC announced plans to start the Māori Wāhine National Cricket Tournament following the success of the men’s tournament last year.
The aim is to allow Māori wāhine to showcase their talent on a national stage alongside fellow Māori talent in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The competition builds on the established Māori Secondary programme, in which Māori wāhine and tāne secondary students face off in a series of T20s.
NZC Diversity & Inclusion Lead, Andrew Tara, said there were important drivers behind the initiative.
“This inaugural tournament provides a unique opportunity for our talented wāhine Māori cricketers to showcase their skills against some of the best players in the country, create a lasting legacy for wāhine Māori cricketers, and increase the visibility of cricket,” said Tara
With CD coming out victorious, they were awarded the Taonga by Darren McKenzie-Potter, grandnephew of McKenzie.
Central Districts Māori Wāhine won the inaugural edition of the competition, going unbeaten in all 4 games against Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Waipounamu, Northern Māori and Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
CD started their campaign with a dominant performance over the Wellingtonians. Despite Caitlin King’s 50*, her side could only crawl to 99-6. Georgia Atkinson (42 off 21) and Sam Mackinder (23 off 23) made easy work of it, cruising over the line with an 8-wicket win.
Northern Māori put up a strong fight after Ocean Bartlett’s 3-8, working in tandem with Atkinson who picked up 2 wickets from her leg spin. Holly Topp put 31 runs on the board but her team were bowled out for 91.
Elle Archer and Dayle Anderson claimed 2 wickets apiece in their defence, but a collective batting effort from CD Māori saw them grab another win in the tournament.
They ran riot against Te Waipounamu, with a comfortable 98-run victory. Fifties from Kerry Tomlinson and Georgia Atkinson were more than enough to put up a comfortable score for their bowlers to defend.
Olivia McKnight impressed with the ball in hand, dismissing 4 batters in 1 over to all but end the match. South Island’s Brooke Huddleston was the only one to break into the double digits with her knock of 12 off 17, but ultimately Te Waipounamu couldn’t threaten CD and were all out for 59.
Their final game on Sunday was a must-win if they were to take home the Rona McKenzie Taonga. Tāmaki Makaurau were struggling with early wickets falling, Macy Lyford snatching 2 upfront. Claire Crooks wracked up 43 unbeaten runs to power her team to 104-6 after 20.
With Georgia Atkinson and Sam Mackinder’s form, it was no surprise they blasted the target with 4 overs to spare. Reese Drager was the only wicket to fall, otherwise, CD looked comfortable throughout.
Georgia Atkinson was key with the bat, pulling up 133 - 2nd best in the competition. Sam Mackinder was too far behind her either, joint 3rd with 104 to her name. There weren’t many other batting contributions from CD given the pair's amazing run at the top.
Macy Lyford (7) and Ocean Bartlett (6) were the Central’s pick of the bowlers, with Olivia McKnight impressive in the 1 game she bowled in, and had a tidy economy of 3.
Northern Māori came 2nd, Tāmaki Makaurau 3rd, Te Whanganui-a-Tara 4th with Te Waipounamu rounding off the table winless and last.
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