The Northern Brave have earned a chance to defend their men's Super Smash title on Saturday after convincingly taking down the Otago Volts in the elimination final in Dunedin this afternoon.
The Northerners beat Otago by 16 runs in a rain-shortened qualifier this afternoon largely thanks to the impressive 199/4 they posted in their 18-over innings to open the match.
Otago sent the visitors in to bat first after winning the toss but were made to pay by Northern openers Katene Clarke and Tim Seifert.
After Seifert fell for 42 from an explosive 23-ball innings, Clarke powered on to post the top score of the match with 73 runs from 39 deliveries.
Clarke and Seifert's efforts were complimented by Brett Hampton with the No.3 batsman posting 44 from 23 balls.
A quickfire 18 runs from Mitchell Santner to finish the innings saw the Volts initially tasked with scoring 205 runs from 18 overs but further rain stoppages saw the target shift to eventually being 177 from 15 overs.
Otago, perhaps partially demoralised by the loss of captain Hamish Rutherford prior to the toss due to a back issue, were slow to start their chase before Dean Foxcroft took it upon himself to spark the side in the No.3 slot.
Foxcroft fired for 39 runs from 16 balls after his openers failed to fire; an innings that was matched and pushed further by Josh Finnie who top-scored for the hosts with 43 runs off 22 balls.
But it wasn't enough in the end with Otago scoring 160 runs from their 15 overs.
The result sets up a rematch on Saturday for the title between the Kings and Brave although this year's final will be at Hagley Oval where Canterbury are far more comfortable compared to last year's 56-run win by Northern at Seddon Park.
The women's elimination final between Otago and Canterbury, also being played in Dunedin, has been delayed due to rain settling back in again.
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