2024/25 Super Smash Scout: Kerr Sisters Takeover, The Legend Of Brett Hampton
Northern Brave men and Wellington Blaze started their Super Smash campaigns with wins, which for the Blaze usually means more Amelia Kerr excellence. A-Kerr hit 67* @ 131sr opening the batting for Wellington and along with sister Jess (61* @ 156sr), they scored 128 of Wellington's 150 runs in their batting innings.
A-Kerr then took 4w @ 4.5rpo as Northern fell a few runs short of their target. After hitting scores of 108 and 64 in her two HBJ Shield appearances, A-Kerr has three 60+ scores in her first three domestic cricket games this season and she has also taken at least a wicket in all three games. Here's a round up...
Recent scores: 21, 4, 1*, 1, 41, 108, 64, 38, 22, 67*
Recent wickets: 2, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 0, 4, 4
HBJ Shield: 172 runs @ 86avg/94sr | 2w @ 33.5avg/3.9rpo
Super Smash: 67 runs @ 131sr | 4w @ 4.5rpo
Here is A-Kerr's Super Smash bowling mahi by season...
2017/18: 11w @ 15.3avg/5.2rpo
2018/19: 19w @ 9.4avg/5rpo
2019/20: 18w @ 12.6avg/5.4rpo
2020/21: 14w @ 15.2avg/4.8rpo
2021/22: 17w @ 11.2avg/4.5rpo
2022/23: 7w @ 22avg/5.7rpo
2023/24: 20w @ 8.9avg/4.4rpo
J-Kerr has had a decent start to the summer with the ball, taking at least two wickets in four of her six HBJ Shield games. She also has two 30+ scores leading into her big knock vs Northern and J-Kerr has quietly established herself as one of the best hitters in the White Ferns mix.
J-Kerr had the highest T20I batting strike-rate for White Ferns this year (126.4) and she was the only player over 120sr. Her 106.5sr in ODIs this year was second only to Lea Tahuhu (136.3sr) and they were the only White Ferns who scored 10+ runs with strike-rates over 100. This rolls into her ODI/T20I career stuff where she is over 100sr in both formats...
ODIs: 11avg/108sr
T20Is: 12.9avg/113sr
Super Smash: 13.5avg/133sr
2023/24 Super Smash: 12avg/130sr | 29avg/5.3rpo
2024/25 HBJ Shield: 16.6avg/68sr | 16avg/3.2rpo
Northern seamer Marama Downes had an impeccable delivery to dismiss Ellyse Perry and she was once again Northern's best bowler. Here are her last two summers with the ball...
2023/24 HBJ Shield: 12w @ 22avg/4rpo
2023/24 Super Smash: 16w @ 12.6avg/5.5rpo
2024/25 HBJ Shield: 8w @ 29.7avg/4.3rpo
2024/25 Super Smash: 1w @ 5rpo
Carol Agafili almost steered Northern to victory with a big knock down the order. Northern have a strong top order and their lower order is full of youngsters, with Yasmeen Kareem and Eve Wolland capable of providing crucial runs. Agafili is the best hitter in this pocket of Northern line up though and she has already reached her best score in both formats after the first Super Smash game of the season. Here are her last three Super Smash seasons with the bat...
2022/23: 28 runs @ 85sr
2023/24: 50 runs @ 100sr
2024/25: 40 runs @ 143sr
Wellington Firebirds had nifty contributions from Gareth Severn, Nick Greenwood and Peter Younghusband in their loss to Northern. Severin has struggled this season after being the best young batter in domestic cricket last summer, registering his first score over 20 of the summer so far...
vs ND: 30 runs @ 130sr
Recent scores: 1, 4, 1, 8, 7, 1, 2, 11, 2 30
T20: 25avg/115sr
Greenwood is a Jersey international who has stacked up an impressive T20 career and flashed his ability in Wellington's first game of Super Smash...
vs ND: 48 runs @ 160sr | 1w @ 2rpo
T20Is: 30.8avg/144sr | 19.6avg/5.4rpo
T20s: 25.7avg/139sr | 18.3avg/5.4rpo
Younghusband is the best spinner in domestic cricket as he leads all spinners for wickets in Plunket Shield and while he is tied with Dean Foxcroft in Ford Trophy wickets, Younghusband's average is notably lower. The leggy is also impacting games with the bat as he's averaging 20+ in the other formats this season and had the highest strike-rate for Wellington batters in this game...
vs ND: 23* @ 192sr | 1w @ 3rpo
Plunket Shield: 25.8avg/49sr | 15w @ 31avg/3.1rpo ---
Ford Trophy: 20.5avg/49sr | 7w @ 21.7avg/5.1rpo ---
Northern got the win though and Kristian Clarke snared the most wickets of the Brave bowlers. 23-year-old Clarke has at least a wicket in 10 of his 11 innings bowled across all three formats this season, plus he's averaging 20+ with the bat in Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy like Younghusband.
Clarke has four consecutive 20+ scores (31, 59, 22, 25*) heading into Super Smash, while white ball bowling is his best zone...
vs Wellington: 3w @ 8rpo
FC: 30.6avg/3.4rpo
LA: 24.9avg/5.5rpo
T20: 25.7avg/8.4rpo
Joe Carter led all batters for runs in this game with 66 runs @ 150sr. This was Carter's second game of the season after playing for NZ 11 vs Sri Lanka and while he hasn't played much, Carter has a nice river of runs flowing across 12 months...
Carter's last five games: 124, 58, 2, 54, 25, 23, 66
Brett Hampton is the funkiest cricketer in the domestic circuit and a mandatory player to watch in Super Smash. Hampton snatched away any slither of hope Wellington had of victory with the highest batting strike-rate in this game, following a tidy performance with the ball. Hampton has had an excellent season in the other formats so far as well...
vs Wellington: 1w @ 7.7rpo | 25* @ 227sr
Plunket Shield: 49avg/85sr | 21.6avg/3rpo
Ford Trophy: 40.2avg/117sr | 29.5avg/5.7rpo
Hampton is second for Northern runs and wickets in both Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy. Hampton has the highest batting strike-rate for Northern in Plunket Shield and has hit the most sixes of all batters (14), one more than Bevon Jacobs. Repeat that in Ford Trophy where Hampton has Northern's highest batting strike-rate and leads the competition for sixes. All up Hampton has hit 25 sixes this season and given his hitting ability, he should crack 10+ sixes in all three competitions.
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