(Cricket news) For the first time in three seasons, there will be a different team lifting the men’s Dream11 Super Smash trophy next Sunday after defending champion Northern Brave bowed out of contention with a stinging loss to the Canterbury Kings.
Jeet Raval’s Northern Brave won the title back-to-back in 2021/22 and 2022/23, but – needing to win to stay alive, they couldn’t match the Kings’ barrage of sixes at Seddon Park this evening after the visitors achieved their highest ever T20 total.
The Kings’ 228/6 in 20 overs after having been sent in bettered their previous record in this format of 222/3 – which was also set against Northern, at Hagley Oval in 2019/20: the match in which the Kings’ Leo Carter famously became the first Super Smash batter to smash six sixes in one over.
This time it was Chad Bowes leading the way with 85 off 43 balls (including five of the 16 sixes in the Kings innings) with fellow opener Tom Latham celebrating his 100th T20 with a class 62 off 39 (with six sixes). Big BJ Jacobs provided the finishing touched with a ballistic final over that saw him slap 29 runs off the six deliveries, including a further four sixes, to nudge the total into record territory.
Recently minted BLACKCAP Will O’Rourke then took three early wickets to make sure Northern stayed on the back foot. The whopping 90-run win means the Brave, along with the Otago Volts, are destined to finish in the bottom two this season, while the Kings are now level with the Central Stags on 24 points in third.
The Stags can move up to join current leader the Auckland Aces on 28 points if the Stags beat the Volts tomorrow in their last round in Dunedin, but the Kings will still have one more game up their sleeve in a tight race that’s now between the Aces, Wellington Firebirds, Stags and Kings for the top three qualifying berth.
The women’s weather-affected match earlier in the afternoon at the same venue had turned into a dramatic DLS thriller, defending champion the Canterbury Magicians falling short by just one agonising run in a rain-reduced chase. Needing three to win off the last ball, captain Frankie Mackay was dropped, then run out going for a second run that would have tied the match and split the points.
The heart-stopping win saw Northern Brave women overtake the Magicians for fourth on the ladder, both teams still alive but with the Magicians now needing the well performed Otago Sparks to lose both their remaining matches, starting tomorrow in the big clash with the Central Hinds.
Earlier, Northern Brave’s Caitlin Gurrey top-scored with an unbeaten 53* off 47 balls in Brave’s total of 123/5 in 20 overs, equalling Northern’s long-standing fifth-wicket T20 partnership record after putting on 70 with captain Eimear Richardson.
AT A GLANCE:
What are the MAXIMUM possible points each team could achieve ahead of Friday’s matches?
- four points per win, two points for a tie or washout
Auckland Aces: 28 (games still to play: 1)
Wellington Firebirds: 26 (games still to play: 1)
Central Stags: 24 (games still to play: 1)
Canterbury Kings: 24 (games still to play: 1)
Otago Volts: 18 (games still to play: 2 – out of contention)
Northern Brave: 16 (games still to play: 2 – out of contention)
Wellington Blaze: 32 (games still to play: 1)
Central Hinds 26 (games still to play: 1)
Otago Sparks 24 (games still to play: 2)
Northern Brave 22 (games still to play: 2)
Canterbury Magicians 16 (games still to play: 1)
Auckland Hearts 16 (games still to play: 1)
What are the CURRENT standings after today’s two matches?
Auckland Aces 24
Wellington Firebirds 22
Central Stags 20
Canterbury Kings 20
Otago Volts 10
Northern Brave 8
Wellington Blaze 28
Central Hinds 22
Otago Sparks 16
Northern Brave 14
Canterbury Magicians 12
Auckland Hearts 12
Also read: WA SENDING THREE TEAMS TO NATIONAL CRICKET INCLUSION CHAMPIONSHIPS
