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The Wellington Blaze won an eighth Women’s Super Smash title on Sunday with an exciting low-scoring thriller at Auckland’s Eden Park, as they took a one-run win over the Central Hinds.
We look back on the season for all the teams and review how each side did.
Auckland Hearts:
Top run scorer: Maddy Green - 283 runs @ 47.17avg
Top wicket-taker: Skye Bowden - 10 wickets @ 12.20avg
The Hearts had a pretty woeful season as they were only able to pick up two wins across the entire competition. They only picked up two wins across the entire season, grabbing an exciting four-wicket win against the Canterbury Magicians at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. To get that victory, however, it did need them to take 30 runs from the final two overs and they did just that.
They also got a second win at Eden Park against the Otago Sparks, taking a nine-run win. Bree Illing was on fire this game as she bowled a maiden final over to get the Hearts the win.
Captain Green led the way for her side as she made 283 runs but throughout the season not many of the batters did step up with Prue Catton’s 186 runs and Saachi Shahri’s 126 runs being the only others to score over 100 runs. With a batting unit that wasn’t able to click on throughout the tournament they would’ve needed a few more of their bowlers to stand up, but this couldn’t quite happen.
Skye Bowden led the way with her 10 wickets and was closely followed by Fran Jonas with nine. Josie Penfold and Illing were the other two players to get over five wickets.
Some of the bowlers did take some tap with Amie Hucker, Molly Penfold, Josie Penfold, and Bowden all going at over seven runs per over.
They did have two games washed out due to rain, one at the Basin Reserve against Wellington and one at Pukekura Park against the Hinds.
Canterbury Magicians:
Top run scorer: Frankie Mackay - 222 runs @ 27.75avg
Top wicket-taker: Lea Tahuhu - 10 wickets @ 16.00avg
Last year's champions did not have a good season. There were multiple chances throughout when they came close to winning important games but couldn’t quite get themselves over the line.
A win in their opening match against Auckland would’ve given them confidence, but it was just a downfall from there. They had a last-ball loss against Otago and then a six-run loss via the DLS method in New Plymouth.
They did however get a massive win when they posted 145 against Otago before rolling them for 69. For the Magicians, this would be their last bit of luck in the season.
Small losses kept on coming for the Canterbrians with another last-ball loss, this time against Auckland. It was followed by a tied match against the Northern Brave and then a one-run loss to the Brave, as their season was drawn to a close then.
Their international signings may have not performed as well as they wanted them to with Fatima Sana making 84 runs across her five games, Maddie Penna making 58 runs from four games, and Sophie Molineux making 36 runs from two games. Sana did get six wickets whilst Penna took three, and Molineux got one.
Mackay and Kate Anderson (182) runs led the way at the top of the order, but no one else could muster over 100 runs. Izzy Sharp did make 99 runs across her nine games and she showed that she is a real star for the future.
Unlike Auckland, they had a few players take over five wickets throughout the competition. Tahuhu led the way with 10 wickets while Sarah Asmussen (9), Gabby Sullivan (8), Mackay (7), and Sana (6) all bowled well throughout the comp.
Sullivan, Jacinta Savage, Molineux, and Kate Anderson did go at over seven runs throughout the tournament. However, Sullivan was the only player to bowl consistent overs throughout.
They did have one game washed out against the Central Hinds at Hagley Oval.
Otago Sparks:
Top run scorer: Suzie Bates - 398 runs @ 56.86avg
Top wicket-taker: Emma Black - 13 wickets @ 16.62avg
The Otago Sparks should count themselves as unlucky for missing out on finals contention. Even though they picked up more wins than the Hinds throughout the tournament, the Hinds were able to gain more points as a result of two abandoned games and a tie. Otago weren’t quite as fortunate as they lost the other five games they played.
After going loss (Wellington), win (Canterbury), loss (Wellington), win (Auckland), loss (Canterbury), win (Brave), win (Central) it looked like the Southerners were right in a spot for one of the top three spots. However, losing two of their last three games allowed the Brave to squeak through and pip the Sparks.
The final game of the season against the Brave was set down as basically a quarter-final with the winner going into the top three and the loser finding themselves on the outer. After a bit of rain and also a mucked-up DLS target the Sparks fell short of a finals spot by two points.
They were a side that showed some consistency throughout the entire season with Bates’ 398 runs being backed up by Bella James’ 161, Caitlin Blakely’s 137, and Felicity Robertson’s 127 runs being the players to score at least 100 runs over the season.
The bowling department also showed their worth with Emma Black (13), Eden Carson (9), PJ Watkins (8), Linsey Smith (8), and Molly Loe (6) all being the players to nab at least five wickets. None of the Sparks went for a lot of runs either with Smith and Sophie Oldershaw going at just over seven runs an over. Robertson went at 8.25 runs per over, but she only bowled four overs.
Northern Brave:
Top run scorer: Caitlin Gurrey - 230 runs @ 25.56avg
Top wicket-taker: Marama Downes - 16 wickets @ 12.69avg
The Northern Brave had a season to remember. They finished up second in the table before losing to the Hinds in the elimination final. It was their best-ever finish since finals were brought into the Super Smash, they previously had finished first in the inaugural season of the competition.
Losing the first two games of the season is never a good start, but they picked up a massive win over the Wellington Blaze by five wickets at Bay Oval. A tied game against the Magicians in Christchurch suddenly flicked their season into gear. They only lost one of their last five round-robin fixtures. They grabbed a 19-run win over Auckland before losing by 8 wickets to Wellington. They then got a one-run win over the Magicians followed by a 39-run win against Auckland and a 22-run win against the Sparks.
Whilst they slipped up in the elimination final, they did have a few standout players during the season. Gurrey (230), Chamari Athapaththu (221), Eimear Richardson (163), Jess Watkin (142), Marina Lamplough (130), and Nensi Patel (118) all scored over 100 runs for the team across the season.
Downes really led the way with the bowling attack as she picked up the first ever five wicket haul in T20s for Northern to top her season off with 16 wickets. Watkin (11), Athapaththu (9), and Lamplough (6) all took over five wickets.
Next season they will be looking to carry on the form, confidence, and experience that they gained by reaching the elimination final to maybe push for a spot in the Grand Final.
Central Hinds:
Top run scorer: Hollie Armitage - 318 runs @ 31.80avg
Top wicket-taker: Rosemary Mair - 14 wickets @ 15.43avg
The Central Hinds had one of their best seasons to remember. They made a first-finals appearance since the 2015/16 season but fell agonisingly short by one run against the Blaze.
They had a great start to the season as they won three of their first five games (the other two were rained off). They then lost two games in a row at Napier’s McLean Park to the Blaze and the Sparks before grabbing a tie against the Blaze in the return fixture. A win against Auckland ensured them a spot in the top three but they did lose their final round-robin game against Otago. A win over the Brave got them into the final where they fell short.
Armitage stood out with the bat for the Hinds in her first Super Smash season while Hannah Rowe, Thamsyn Newton, and Mikaela Greig all made over 100 runs.
Mair took 14 wickets, including figures of 4/5 in the final, whilst Claudia Green took a hat-trick in the elimination final to propel herself to 10 wickets in the competition. Rowe got nine wickets, and Priyanaz Chatterji (7), and Ashtuti Kumar (6) both got over five wickets.
Wellington Blaze:
Top run scorer: Amelia Kerr - 437 runs @ 72.83avg
Top wicket-taker: Amelia Kerr - 20 wickets @ 8.95avg
The Wellington Blaze got an eighth title with their one-run victory over the Hinds. They did suffer one loss and a tie over the entire competition with the loss being to the Northern Brave whilst they tied against the Central Hinds.
The rest of the season they were able to pick up comfortable wins against the other sides.
Kerr (437), Georgia Plimmer (187), Rebecca Burns (161), and Jess McFadyen (119) were the only players to score over 100 runs for the side. However, Kerr’s 437 runs were vital to Wellington’s campaign as she was the only player to register a 50 for the side along with holding the five top scores for Wellington.
Amelia Kerr (20), Leigh Kasperek (17), Xara Jetly (9), Jess Kerr (7), and Nicole Baird (6) were the bowlers to take over five wickets. Amelia Kerr took two five-wicket hauls across the tournament, one against Canterbury and one against the Central Hinds.
Next season they will look to once again make the Grand Final and keep pushing for titles!
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