Laura Harris made a statement on her Otago debut in the Women’s Super Smash on Sunday, hitting a 15-ball half-century that now stands as the joint-fastest in women’s T20 cricket alongside Marie Kelly’s 2022 effort for Warwickshire.
The Australian batter, fresh from a disappointing campaign with Sydney Thunder in the WBBL, walked to the crease with Otago in trouble at 46 for 2 in the sixth over while chasing 146 against Canterbury. She attacked from the first ball, reaching 52 in 17 deliveries with six fours and four sixes, before being caught in the deep off medium-pacer Gabby Sullivan at Molyneux Park in Alexandra. Her innings powered Otago past the target by the 15th over.
Harris struggled in last season’s WBBL, scoring just 69 runs in eight innings across ten matches for Thunder, who finished second from bottom on the eight-team table. Her strike rate, however, remained eye-catching at 197.14.
Earlier this year, Harris had hinted at her destructive potential while playing for Warwickshire in the Vitality Blast, hitting a 17-ball fifty against Durham on her way to 55 from 21 balls and earning Player of the Match honours.
Harris’s record now includes six T20 half-centuries, all scored in fewer than 20 balls. Three came in 18 deliveries, one in 19, one in 17, and now this 15-ball mark, a feat unmatched by any other woman in the game.
Her rapid scoring also secured Otago a bonus point, a new feature in this season’s Super Smash designed to reward high-scoring games. The point is awarded either for scoring 150 runs or more or achieving a run rate 1.25 times greater than the opposition’s. Canterbury had set a rate of 7.25, while Otago finished at 9.84, further underlining Harris’s impact.
