Dream11 Super Smash Grand Final Preview

By Aiden McLaughlin

Sixty two matches down, two to go. After nine weeks of competition, four teams remain to battle it out at Seddon Park on Saturday. Last season’s champions, the Canterbury Magicians and the Wellington Firebirds haven’t made it to finals day this time around, the Magicians finishing fourth in the regular season while the Firebirds finished third but lost in Thursday’s Elimination Final to the Canterbury Kings.

3.00pm: Wellington Blaze v Otago Sparks

The Blaze finished top of the table, winning all ten of their games. The Sparks finished second, with eight wins and two defeats (to the Blaze). In their first meeting of the season at John Davies Oval in Queenstown, the Blaze posted 157-7. Amelia Kerr top scored with 56 off 50 balls and was supported by Leigh Kasperek (24 off 26) but the home side would have been especially disappointed in conceding 17 extras, including 14 wides. In response, the Sparks were bowled out for 91, after 18.1 overs with only Suzie Bates (24 off 31) and Katey Martin (40 off 34) making double figures.

The return fixture at the Basin Reserve just over a week later was a rain affected affair, ending up as a 12 over a side match. The Blaze again won the toss and chose to bat, managing an imposing 108-8. Rebecca Burns (30 off 15) and Maddy Green (30 off 19) were top scorers. The Sparks lost Bates in the fourth ball of their reply, having scored just one, with only Martin (19 off 18) and Kate Ebrahim (29 off 21) putting up any resistance as they were bowled out for 75 in the last ball of their innings.

The Blaze’s preferred plan this season has been to bat first, set a formidable total and allow their excellent bowling attack to get into their work with scoreboard pressure quickly becoming a factor. That said, when they have bowled first, they have impressed too. The Northern Brave were bowled out for 46 and the Auckland Hearts for 89. Even when the Central Hinds were able to post a competitive 123-6, four Blaze batters scored 20+ as the chase was achieved with five balls to spare. Amelia Kerr is, perhaps surprisingly, their only batter in the competition’s top ten run scorers, with 326 (second place) but five Blaze batters (Jess Kerr, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Amelia Kerr and Leigh Kasperek) are in the top ten for highest strike rate. On the bowling front, the Blaze have the top three wicket takers in the competition, via the Kerr sisters and Kasperek, with Xara Jetley in seventh place.

With the women representing Wellington having such a strong hand, where can the Sparks find a weakness? Suzie Bates is far and away the highest run scorer in the competition (501 in total) and Katey Martin also makes the top seven with 214. Polly Inglis and Kate Ebrahim round out their top order and it’s essential that they put strong partnerships together, especially if they end up chasing. With the ball, Eden Carson and Sophie Oldershaw will need to ensure the powerful Blaze line-up is kept pegged down, but none of the Sparks bowlers can afford to have a off day; if they do then multiple Blaze batters have the ability to make them pay and get a total towards the 150 mark, or chase down a target quickly.

6.50pm: Northern Brave v Canterbury Kings

The Brave finished top of the table, with eight wins, one loss and a no-result. The Kings finished second with seven wins and three losses. Their first meeting of the season at Bay Oval was a topsy-turvy thriller as the Brave got the win via a last ball Trent Boult six. The Kings posted a score of just 107 as they were bowled out in 17.2 overs, with Henry Nicholls top scoring for the away side (35 off 21) as Joe Walker took a stifling 3-13 off his four overs. The chase looked comfortable for the Brave until a flurry of wickets in the closing stages made the game much closer than expected.

Four weeks later, the sides met again at Hagley Oval. Like their first encounter, the Brave won the toss and elected to bowl, but this time the Kings were able to post a much higher score against a bowling line-up containing five past or present Blackcaps, making 173-6 as Chad Bowes led the way (58 off 40), ably assisted by Tom Latham (34 off 22) and Daryl Mitchell (31 off 19). This time however, the Brave were able to get there more comfortably with five balls to spare, for the loss of just two wickets as Tim Seifert dominated the chase with 88 off 62.

The Brave have built their season on chasing down targets. Seven of their eight wins have seen them bowl first, with their other victory coming by 19 runs after they set the Central Stags 177 to win. Their only defeat was against the Otago Volts where they set a relatively low target of 147, which the Volts managed with three wickets and two balls remaining. Katene Clarke and Seifert are a strong opening pair, capable of getting them off to a flyer in the powerplay. Their top four are rounded off by the experience of captain Jeet Raval and Colin de Grandhomme, Seifert and de Grandhomme are in the top ten runscorers for the competition. They have an embarrassment of riches in their bowling stock, but putting to one side Boult, Southee, Sodhi and Santner, Joe Walker has taken 14 wickets in the competition, the fifth most by any player.

Although the Kings have lost both head to head encounters this season, they won’t fear this third match up. In Chad Bowes and Cam Fletcher, they have two of the in-form batters across the competition; they are third and fourth respectively in the list of top runscorers and were the keys to victory in the Elimination Final, with Fletcher in particular catching the eye with 63 off 25 balls. On balance, they would probably prefer to chase a total but as demonstrated by their 47 run win over a strong Stags batting line-up during the season, they have the ability via the maturity of Matt Henry and Todd Astle to bowl sides out. The big match experience of Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell will be vital too.

 

Although the form book suggests a Blaze/Brave double, the Sparks and Kings have plenty in their lockers to see both these finals go down to the wire. Hopefully the season gets the conclusion it deserves.

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