Perfect November weather greeted the start of this season's Georgie Pie Super Smash and making first use of it was the SBS Bank Otago Volts in the lovely surrounds of New Plymouth's Pukekura Park where the kids had a ball.
The Volts got a perfect start after thwarting their hosts who had to settle for "Taranaki tornado" Tom Bruce cleaning up the Cricket Express MVP award for his explosive Georgie Pie Super Smash debut performance with the bat: an unbeaten 82. It was almost an action replay of Tom's show-stopping Ford Trophy 88 on debut for the Stags last summer, at the same park!
The Stags didn't have to wait long for revenge, because two nights later they were up against the electric southerners again, this time under lights in the first Georgie Pie Super Smash game to be played at Yarrow Stadium.
And what a memorable night it was for George Worker, who took a stunning career best 5-10, the first five-wicket bag for the offspinning allrounder and backed up with a smashing 25-ball 42 to win "Georgie" (what an apt nickname) the Cricket Express MVP as the Stags settled their score with the Volts by four wickets.
Incredibly, that handy five-for wasn't the best bowling figures we saw in week one! Canterbury Kings veteran Andy Ellis, or "the businessman" as we like to call him, zeroed in for a career-best 5-9 as the Kings raided Seddon Park for their opening win over the SKYCITY Northern Knights.
Nobody had dared imagine Handy Andy would top his previous best of 5-14: well, we were wrong!
And how exciting to see a world T20 record equalled in Georgie Pie Super Smash: congrats Peter Fulton, five catches in an innings, and shoutout to wicketkeeper Cameron Fletcher for taking a New Zealand record five dismissals with the gloves against his old team in the same match. You know what they say: catches win matches!
Catching wasn't the forte of defending champs the Mighty Ape Wellington Firebirds in their first game of the season. The Firebirds were mighty happy to peg back the Kings in spite of first-up wobbles in the field, a last-over thriller that was clinched with two smashing sixes, one of them first-ball from new batsman Matt Taylor.
Can't wait to see what Georgie Pie Super Smash has in store for us this week. Get your own games going too, and tweet to us with your #officecricket best at @gpsupersmash for a chance to win fun prizes.
And remember that if you get your tickets online, you go into the draw for a Ford Fiesta Trend Manual!*
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