Impressive Kings join Firebirds at top of Super Smash ladder
CANTERBURY have snapped reigning champions Wellington’s five-match unbeaten run to start the Twenty20 Super Smash.
Kings skipper Cole McConchie struck an unbeaten 48 off 34 balls beat the Firebirds’ 154-7 with four wickets and a couple of balls to spare on a tiring Hagley Oval wicket yesterday.
It backed up their impressive six-wicket win against Northern less than 24 hours prior, improving their record to 5-1 and ensuring they join the Firebirds with 20 points.
McConchie, who earlier took 2-14 with his off-spinners, was aided by Jack Boyle (39 off 33) and Daryl Mitchell (32 off 23), after the team’s openers – Ken
McClure (4) and Chad Bowes (7) – again failed.
The Kings were cruising at 78-2 after nine overs, but Ben Sears, playing as a concussion replacement for skipper Michael Bracewell, trapped Mitchell lbw with his first ball and the boundaries dried up.
Needing six off Jimmy Neesham’s final over to get home, Cam Fletcher crashed the first ball through cover, before McConchie finished the job.
Oh, how Neesham would have wished he had a few more runs to play with. He led Wellington’s scorers with 49 from 38 after the visitors won the toss and chose to bat, but would have felt sick when he slapped a Will Williams full toss down Bowes’ gob at long off as he was heating up.
At 40-4 after the power play, Neesham and Bracewell put on 68 to set up a platform for the visitors to launch from.
However, Bracewell copped a Neesham thunderbolt to the helmet, which drew blood and required him to be stitched up and miss the rest of the match.
Wellington looked set to post a below par total of about 140 before former Kings all-rounder Logan van Beek plundered 29 from 10 to bolster Wellington.
Meanwhile, in the later match, it was yet another Blaze of glory for superstar Sophie Devine.
Two days after whacking the fastest-ever women’s Twenty20 hundred, the White Ferns skipper was at it again, with a quickfire half century leading Wellington to a thumping seven-wicket win over Canterbury.
The top of the table matchup turned into one-way traffic as former New Zealand captain Amy Satterthwaite’s own rapid 50 went in vain for the Magicians, who were bowled out for 117 in 19.3 overs.
Devine then blasted the threetime defending champions to another quick finish, muscling 59 off 26 balls opening the batting. The Blaze reached their target with 6.4 overs to spare, and are six points clear at the head of the ladder.
By the time Devine holed out at long on off Sarah Asmussen in the seventh over, the chase was as good as done, with 83 on the board.
Early on, it didn’t look like the Magicians would post much to make a game of things, falling to 18-2 in the fourth over, but No 3 Satterthwaite quickly got things back on track thanks to her rapid 52 off 28 (10 fours).
But in the biggest moment of the game, 19-year-old off-spinner Xara Jetly picked up her first wicket of the competition – and a huge one – when Satterthwaite dragged one to mid-on.
That slowed Canterbury up no end and they went on to collapse in a big way.