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Women’s Super Smash League introduces new bonus point system to reward big totals

Soumyajit Dutta

Super Smash League to start soon [Source: @SuperSmashNZ/X]Super Smash League to start soon [Source: @SuperSmashNZ/X]

The New Zealand Cricket board has introduced a landmark structural change in the upcoming Women’s Super Smash League 2025-26 to encourage higher scoring rates in matches.

The cricket board has rolled out a revised points structure for this season’s Super Smash, which will allow teams to earn bonus points after crossing a certain scoring threshold.

How does the new bonus point system work?

To elaborate, apart from the four points teams gain for a win in the league stage, just like most other leagues across the world, they will also be able to earn an additional bonus point per match if they score 150 runs or more, irrespective of whether they bat first or second.

Adding to that, for achieving a run rate greater than 1.25 times that of the opposition in the second innings, the teams will also get a bonus point.

For example, if a team scores 150+ in their first or second innings, they get an additional bonus point, which reflects on the points table as ‘5’ instead of the usual 4 points ranking.

In the alternate rule, in case the opponent scores less than 150 in their first innings and the team batting second chases while maintaining the run rate 1.25 times more than that of the opponent, (For example, if team A scored at the rate of 6 runs per over by the end of 20 overs, team B have to finish the chase with a run rate of 7.5) they will also get a bonus point.

As per the rules, each team can earn a maximum of one bonus point per match.

The bigger plan behind the new point system

New Zealand Cricket has implemented this change after observing global trends, where scoring rates across international leagues have accelerated exponentially.

However, in contrast, the Women’s Super Smash League has suffered from relatively low scoring rates. Last season, teams batting first crossed the 150-run mark only six times in 32 matches. 

Notably, there were 17 innings in which the first-innings total was 130 or below, clearly depicting the lack of high scores in the competition.

New Zealand Women’s head coach Ben Sawyer views this revised points structure as an opportunity to boost New Zealand’s prospects on the international stage.

"It's an exciting addition to the competition. It'll reward both aggressive batting and proactive wicket-taking bowling plans, which are the key skill sets required in this format. We're expecting high-scoring matches next year at the T20 World Cup in June, so this is a great opportunity for our players to get ready for that," Sawyer said.

The Women’s Super Smash League is set to begin on December 26 at Seddon Park, with the opening clash staged between Northern Districts and Auckland.