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Kiwi Cricket Kōrero host and writer Ellie Indie writes about the opening match of the Women’s Super Smash 2022–23 season. (Originally written 23/12/22).
The first match of the Super Smash season did not disappoint. The Canterbury Magicians take a 14-run win over the Northern Brave, who were looking to cruise to the win. With performances from Amy Satterthwaite, Caitiln Gurrey and Missy Banks, here’s all the action from the Super Smash opening day.
Northern Brave Women vs Canterbury Magicians at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.
Coming into the match…
Canterbury have a great record against the Brave in T20 cricket, since their first meeting the Cantabs have won an incredible 18 out of 22 games (plus 1 tie).
The last time the two met at Bay Oval, Canterbury won by 16 runs batting first.
Kate Anderson makes her T20 transition from the Northern Braves to the Canterbury Magicians.
Canterbury Magicians playing XI: Amy Satterthwaite ©, Kate Anderson, Sarah Asmussen, Missy Banks, Nat Cox, Jodie Dean, Abigale Gerken, Laura Hughes (WK), Jacinta Savage, Gabby Sullivan, Lea Tahuhu.
Canterbury skipper and star allrounder Frankie Mackay is unavailable due to the injury she suffered in the second round of the HBJ Shield. Experienced campaigner Amy Satterthwaite takes up the senior role of captain for the time being in Mackay’s absence. Former Northern Brave star Kate Anderson makes her T20 outing versus her old side for the first time in her career. Anderson notably put in a shining performance for her final season with the side, scoring 170 runs (ND’s second highest) at 21.25.
Northern Brave playing XI: Amanda-Jade Wellington, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Caitlin Gurrey, Eimear Richardson ©, Holly Topp (WK), Lucy Boucher, Marama Downes, Nensi Patel, Phoebe Graham, Sam Barriball, Shirya Naidu,.
News came just a few days before the tournament commenced that Thunder and Manchester Originals quick Phoebe Graham would be joining the Northerns bowling unit alongside newly recruited WBBL08 Champion and Australia’s Amanda-Jade Wellington. Wellington’s leg spin will be filling the space left by recent departee Makayla Templeton (moved to Auckland) and adding her world class skill set to the squad and Graham offers experience — having played in the county set up since 2010.
Canterbury won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Kate Anderson got the play underway with a fine four off Shirya Naidu off the first and fourth ball. A close lbw call, rejected by the umpire, came within the same over with the Brave bowler finding a great deal of inswing early on. Regardless, the Magicians were able to extract 12 runs from Naidu.
In just the second over, Lucy Boucher gave two golden chances for her side. A thick edge from Anderson flew past just inches away from skipper Eimear Richardson at slip, then the final ball of the over dropped by overseas debutant Phoebe Graham at mid off, originally catching it to the the end of Nat Cox but unable to make it stick as she landed.
After a tricky start for the Canterbury batter, Nat Cox was dismissed sending one high but not far for 5 runs in twice as many balls. Boucher finally got the wicket she’d almost taken previously, with Amanda-Jade Wellington positioned to take the catch. Laura Hughes was sent to the crease in a promotion up the order and instantly demonstrated a shot similar to Cox’s, the side unchanged in attitude despite the wicket. Canterbury were 22–1.
Despite Hughes upping the rate and hitting the ropes alongside Anderson, it was another delivery from Boucher in Wellington’s possession. Brave almost saw another breakthrough a delivery after, Amy Satterhwaite sending one low in the direction of Marama Downes, one of three Brave debutants, but another opportunity dropped. The batting side 45–2 after the powerplay.
A change in bowlers from Boucher to Wellington, who’d already made a name for herself for the side after 2 catches, saw the end of Kate Anderson after a well played innings. With some quick running and four 4s, she was able to notch up a 25-ball 34 during a period where teammates didn’t stick for long and had to keep the total ticking. Canterbury were 57–3.
Graham saw harsh treatment in her first over, with the opposition scoring 7 off her pace bowling as well as the dropped catch of Nat Cox. Her redemption came facing new batter Jodie Dean, an awkward shot going to Nensi Patel with a leaping catch. Though wickets were falling at a rate for the side, Satterthwaite began to play a similar role to Anderson. Her innings ramped up with 2 boundaries in the space of 4 balls. Canterbury were 86–4.
With Satterthwaite commanding most of the strike, all Gerken had to do was run! It was evident in their partnership, 50 runs off 38 balls with 39 coming off the bat of Satterthwaite. A potential caught and bowled from Nensi Patel almost putting a dent in the batters’ proceedings at the start of the fifteenth, converted into a run instead. A shot going over the top from Gerken evading the ropes by a few metres brought the 100 up with a 2. Canterbury were 101–4.
A 4 splitting long-off and long-on followed by a shot to deep mid-wicket brought the run rate up for the side, something they needed to put up a competitive total. There was a clear acceleration toward the back end, slightly thrown off by Patel bowling Gerken (10 off 10), with pinch hitter Lea Tahuhu coming in at the right time. Canterbury were 113–5.
It was all happening in the 18th. Amy Satterthwaite brought up the 50 in fitting way, off yet another 4. Slow starting, she soon adjusted the pace to account for the wickets lost and the lack of runs. In the same over Graham ripped the middle stump out of the ground to see the end of Tahuhu, unable to strike in her typical batting role. Jacinta Savage was run out the ball after without scoring, with Canterbury going from 117–5 to 123–7 in the space of an over.
Wellington conceded just 4 runs in her final over (finishing on 1–17) but more importantly for the Brave, allowed for tailender Missy Banks to be on strike for the final. Banks ran 1 and left the rest to Satterthwaite who extracted as many runs as there were to be handed. A well-ran two, followed by two fours, a big shot for six to the onside and another 2 to finish the innings. Canterbury finished on 146–7 with a target of 147 for the Brave.
Innings Breakdown:
It was a game changing display from Amy Satterthwaite with great game awareness and some impressive shots. Coming in at the 6th over, she was able to change the game at different stages. Her innings ended on 73 not out off 52 with nine fours and a six. It’s hard to see Canterbury with this total without her contribution. Kate Anderson’s efforts also shouldn’t go unnoticed. Sticking around at the start during a mini collapse to ensure some stability but also upping the total at a strong rate was a notable feat.
Northern Brave had a decent start to the innings with Naidu and Boucher finding some great deals of swing early on. They’d be able to restrict them to around 6.50 rpo before the death. Toward the back end the bowling allowed for more runs than they’d like to give for a side they’d taken wickets against regularly throughout the match. Their dropped catches tally was fairly high too, top run scorer Amy Satterthwaite was almost out on her first delivery had it not been dropped, potentially changing the whole game.
Caitlin Gurrey continued from her HBJ antics, where she scored the NZ women’s domestic joint highest List A score. Scoring 7 off her first 3 balls, it set the tone for what was to come for the Brave opener. However for her teammate, Lea Tahuhu almost saw the end of Bernadine Bezuidenhout at the start of her spell. The ball just grazed past Amy Satterhwaite (a notably tall fielder), to ensure a longer stay at the crease for Bezuidenhout.
Taking 18 runs from the first two, it was Gabby Sullivan who was brought on fairly early to slow the rate. Only 4 runs came from the over then 3 from Tahuhu after a hint of pressure started to build. A breakthrough for Canterbury came shortly. In Sullivan’s second she removed Bezuidenhout who had started to get going, scoring a 4 then well-ran 2 at the beginning of the over. At the end, she’d hit the ball that landed in Kate Anderson’s hands, Canterbury sending her back to the sheds and the Brave 33–1 after the 5th.
A tight over from Tahuhu, with Gurrey only finding a run amongst the dots, the pace slowed momentarily after the wicket. Missy Banks was reintroduced to the attack after the powerplay and restricted the runs, the Brave progressing to 38–1.
After that there was no looking back for Gurrey and Barriball. They amassed 27 runs comfortably from 3 overs, looking to use the spin of Asmussen and Anderson to launch the ball to the ropes. Midway through the innings the Brave were 65–1, a contrast to Canterbury who were 63–4. Their run rate spiking up after another brutal over for Anderson, a 6 flying over boundary; some good running and a swipe for four to take 15 from the over. Brave were 80–1.
Satterthwaite brought herself on to stop the runs ticking, while it was a good start to her over, Gurrey tapped it to the boundary and brought up her fifty just after. She’d scored 50 runs from 39 balls with nine fours — an extension of her recent form. Brave were 87–1.
Pressure building on the Canterbury side as the boundaries wouldn’t stop coming. Gurrey saw Sullivan to the boundary twice in a row during her over leaving the Brave closer to the target of 147 at 98–1. Barriball brought up the sides 100 in 13.2 overs, and Gurrey kept powering along at the other end, slapping the ball to the offside for 4. Brave were 107–1.
The run looked straightforward from here, with 9 wickets in hand and a required run rate of 6.53, however Missy Banks enforced a major breakthrough — the wicket of Caitlin Gurrey. A catch from Nat Cox down at the boundary saw the end of the Gurrey after a great innings, scoring 66 off 48 with eleven fours to her tally. Brave were 112–2, Canterbury were 101–4 at this stage.
Tahuhu came on to bowl her last in a big move from the Canterbury skipper. It was a big over for the bowling side, with only 2 runs coming off it, the required run rate creeped up to 8.25 with 4 overs to go. Brave needed something big, for either Barriball or Eimear Richardson to go big at some point to ensure an easy win. Hesitation from Richardson going back for two ended up in her being run out by Sullivan. Back to back wickets for Canterbury changed the trajectory of the game. An over-the-shoulder catch from Nat Cox in the deep after the run out gave Gabby Sullivan her second wicket of the match, removing Sam Barriball from the equation. Brave were 117–4.
With a new pair of batters to the crease (Amanda-Jade Wellington and Lucy Boucher), it was prime time for Canterbury to strike. Laura Hughes took the ball for a great stumping off Satterthwaite, Lucy Boucher out for 3 runs off 5 balls. The Brave were 120–5. That wasn’t the end of the Brave’s wobble, as at this point it had turned into a collapse. Nensi Patel was caught by fellow no-runs-scorer Jacinta Savage two balls later off Satterthwaite, the Brave now 120–6. The game now looked like anyone’s to win. Northern Brave needed 26 runs off two overs with tailenders Wellington and Graham at the crease.
Nobody could have been prepared for the 19th over, similar to the 18th in Canterbury’s innings. 18.1: A potential run out the ball before fumbled by the bowler at the stumps Banks, though the ball after (18.2) ensured Phoebe Graham would keep on walking to the pavilion. 18.3: Wellington is caught by Cox at the boundary off Banks. 18.4: Shirya Naidu comes to the crease to be greeted with a first ball duck. A momentous 3 overs, the Brave lost 6 wickets for 10 runs in 3 overs. An unpredictable collapse from the Brave saw the Magicians in high favour on the hypothetical win predictor.
Downes and Topp ran 8 runs but visibly knew it wasn’t enough to take the win over the Canterbury Magicians, who won by 14 runs.
Innings Breakdown:
Gurrey (66 off 48), Bezuidenhout (15 off 14) and Barriball (32 off 32) built a great foundation for the rest of their team to build on. What followed was no double digit individual scores, 3 ducks and a large collapse within the space of 3 overs. It was a bit of a disaster to put it lightly. Once the wickets fell, they wouldn’t stop — and unlike Canterbury there wasn’t one fixed batter in to try and stabilise it all. There’s positives to take for the Braves into their next game; their bowling during the start and middle was impactful and restrictive to the other side. They’ll just have to figure out how they dont allow other sides bowling to be the same to their batting.
Not many words can explain how amazing that win was for the Magicians. When the game was looking lost for them — they pounced and won it. Their bowling wasn’t perhaps as consistent as the Brave’s, there was no fixed period (barring the end where they enforced the colossal collapse) where the Brave were threatened but more random overs here and there.
They didn’t have a fixed duo either, they were quite flexible with their bowling making their first change in the first over. Their young guns (Gabby Sullivan and Missy Banks) came through toward the end to save the game for the team in a dramatic fashion. Canterbury will need to work on their batting similar to the Brave, Amy Satterthwaite won’t always pull the team over the line, and Kate Anderson won’t always be able to set the foundation.
Player of the match:
There were a fair few great performances dotted around the innings, Amy Satterthwaite an obvious candidate with her 73* off 52, which kept Canterbury in the game and 2–25 (4), furthering the Northern collapse. Caitlin Gurrey was also high up in the runs with 66 off 48, unfortunate not to be backed up by her side. Missy Banks (3–20) and Gabby Sullivan (2–29) struck fairly early and instigated the meltdown in the Brave batting order.
Given the context of her knock and decision to bowl herself (which paid off) the Player of the match was Amy Satterthwaite.
(cantab win)
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