The Wellington Blaze have been crowned the women’s Super Smash T20 champions after defending a total of 89 at Eden Park against the Central Districts Hinds today.
Blaze skipper Amelia Kerr was once again named player of the match after her knock of 35 off 35 balls in the first innings – the highest score of the game – before she turned the screws with her leg spinners in taking 1-21 off her three overs.
Nearly everything went right for the Hinds after the Blaze won the toss and elected to bat during showery conditions, which caused the game to be shortened to 17 overs each.
Rosemary Mair was in hot form with the ball – she cleaned bowled the dangerous Sophie Devine for 5, had Georgia Plimmer trapped in front for a duck and eventually removed Kerr caught behind for the superb figures of 4-5 off her four overs.
But while few Blaze batters put up much resistance, Kerr’s intelligent batting kept them in the game, with a late cameo from sister Jess helping, along with Natasha Codyre’s quick-fire 12 off four balls, including a six off the first ball she faced.
The Blaze’s total of 89 all out was not a particularly challenging one but a combination of the Blaze’s doggedness in the field and the Hinds’ overly conservative batting had Central in trouble during their reply.
Openers Hollie Armitage and Natalie Dodd were both caught and bowled for 21 and 18 respectively, and, with the run rate creeping up exponentially, the Hinds required 18 off the last two overs and 10 off the last one.
Devine appeared to blow it for Wellington in the final over when she dropped Thamsyn Newton off her own bowling, but in the end it didn’t matter, Newton left on 27 as Claudia Green was run out off the last ball of the match as the Hinds finished on 88-5.
They couldn’t find the boundary they so desperately needed, with the Blaze winning by one run.
It was a deserved result for the most consistent team of the competition but the Hinds will be devastated to lose a final they were favourites to win at the halfway stage.
Auckland were awarded the men's Super Smash champions after their match against the Canterbury Kings was abandoned later at Eden Park due to rain.
Canterbury, sent into bat, made a fine start thanks to a 90-run partnership between Black Caps Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls, the Kings reaching 133-2 off 14.2 overs before the rain set in and the match was abandoned just after 7 o'clock.
Latham was left unbeaten on 58 off 33 balls, which included five sixes, when the match was called off, with Auckland declared the winners due to their first place at the top of the table.
Nicholls hit 42 off 35 before being dismissed by Jock McKenzie via a fine catch in the deep by Louis Delport.
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