Satterthwaite stars as Magicians beat Brave in Super Smash opener - Vincent Jones

Kiwi Cricket Kōrero host and writer Vincent Jones writes on the opening match of the Women’s Super Smash 2022–23 season (originally written 23/12/22)

Northern Brave (W) vs Canterbury Magicians

Toss: Canterbury won the toss and chose to bat

Canterbury: Kate Anderson, Nat Cox, Laura Hughes, Amy Satterthwaite, Jodie Dean, Abigale Gerken, Lea Tahuhu, Jacinta Savage, Mel Banks, Gabby Sullivan, Sarah Asmussen

Northern Brave: Caitlin Gurrey, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Sam Barriball, Eimear Richardson, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Lucy Boucher, Nensi Patel, Phoebe Graham, Marama Downes, Shriya Naidu, Holly Topp

First Innings:

After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Magicians got off to a good start with Kate Anderson and Nat Cox opening-up. It was an excellent start to the season from Canterbury, as Anderson hit 4 from the first ball of the game, and 12 from the first over. The good start to the game eventually was stopped by Lucy Boucher as she removed Cox for 5, caught by Amanda-Jade Wellington. The Brave were able to get another wicket in the powerplay with Laura Hughes out for 9, giving Boucher her second wicket of the game and Wellington her second catch. After a fast start to the game from Anderson, Wellington got the prize wicket through a nice piece of work behind the stumps from Holly Topp. Phoebe Graham, also on debut for the Brave, put Canterbury 4 down, removing Jodie Dean for 1, with an amazing one-handed grab from Nensi Patel. A 50-run partnership between captain, Amy Satterthwaite and youngster, Abigale Gerken stabilised the Canterbury innings through the middle stages of the game, but just when the Mags would have been looking to up the ante, Patel broke through and removed Gerken for 10. Tahuhu joined her wife, Satterthwaite at the crease but the partnership didn’t last long as Graham removed her, and Patel/Graham combined to run out Jacinta Savage next ball. With the bowlers only left in the shed, Satterthwaite knew she had to excel the scoring rate to be able to help her side to a good total. In the process, Satterthwaite picked up her 16 T20 50 for Canterbury. Only four runs came from the 19th over, bowled by Wellington, Satterthwaite knew she had to do something in the 20th to try and get the Magicians to 135–140. Graham was tasked with bowling this over and it didn’t go exactly how she would have imagined being taken to the cleaners by Satterthwaite, conceding 19 runs from the over to help the Magicians to 146/7 from their 20 overs. Boucher and Graham picked up two wickets, and Wellington and Patel contributed one each.

Second Innings:

Caitlin Gurrey and Bernie Bezuidenhout were given the task of opening the batting for the Brave. They needed to get off to a fast start, and Gurrey, fresh of a record-breaking 183 in the HBJ Shield, was able to do this helping the Brave to get to 18 from only two overs. Bezuidenhout was the first to fall for 15 with Gabby Sullivan getting her first wicket on return from an injury last season. Sam Barriball joined Gurrey at the crease and they were able to keep the Brave in the game with 11 fours from Gurrey and one from Barriball. Gurrey picked up her 11th T20 50 on her way to a fine knock of 66. When Gurrey departed, the score was t 110/2 from 14.3 overs, the Brave needing 37 runs from 33 balls. It was looking like the Brave were cruising to victory, and the Magicians would need to have a few quality overs to get back into the game. Eimear Richardson joined Barriball at the crease, but she didn’t last long, run out by Dean/Sullivan. Sullivan, then got the big wicket of Barriball next ball, trying to find the boundary, but was caught by Nat Cox. More wickets soon fell as Lucy Boucher was stumped by Hughes of the bowling of Satterthwaite and then Patel was caught next ball by Savage. This left the Brave at 120/6, requiring 27 from 16 balls with not many recognised batters left. Phoebe Graham was run out next over by Simmons. Wellington and Naidu were both removed in the following two balls, leading to a team hat-trick for the Magicians. Marama Downes and Holly Topp were left with too few balls to score the required runs, giving the Magicians a 14-run victory at Bay Oval. Mel Banks took 3 wickets and two for both Sullivan and Satterthwaite. Amy Satterthwaite was awarded the Dream 11 Game Changer for her two wickets, and 73 from 52 with the bat.