The Firebirds celebrate their win during the Super Smash cricket Final match between the Wellington Firebirds and Auckland Aces at the Basin Reserve on Sunday the 19th of January 2020. Copyright Photo by Marty Melville / www.Photosport.nz
Wellington has done the Dream11 Super Smash double, with the Firebirds winning the men’s competition and joining the Blaze who secured their third consecutive women’s title earlier in the day.
Sent in, the Firebirds put a competitive total on the board then produced an excellent bowling and fielding display to win by 22 runs at the Basin Reserve.
Michael Bracewell and Logan van Beek scored 20 runs in the final over to boost the Firebirds to 168-7, a late burst that proved crucial.
Devon Conway was the standout batsman again for the Firebirds, as he has been all season. He scored 49 off 37 balls before he was dismissed by Mitchell McClenaghan (3-32 off four) with the help of a spectacular one-handed catch by Craig Cachopa.
Conway had good support from Tom Blundell (25 off 21) who fell soon after.
Jimmy Neesham kept the momentum going until he was caught for 22 off 13 balls off the bowling of Ronnie Hira (1-32 off four).
With five overs remaining, the Firebirds were stalled at 124-5, but their fast finish boosted the total to a defendable 168-7.
Captain Michael Bracewell made an unbeaten 23 off 17 and van Beek added 15 off eight in the late flurry.
In response, The ACES started brightly. Martin Guptill took 11 from the first over and the visitors were well placed at 33-0 after four.
However, Munro fell in the next over bowled by Hamish Bennett (3-34 off four). Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman both came and went and the ACES found themselves at 61-3 in the 10th over and under increasing scoreboard pressure.
Skipper Cachopa (25 off 19) tried to get some impetus for the visitors but regular boundaries were hard to come by and the big overs didn’t eventuate.
van Beek (3-28 off four) added three middle-order wickets to his cameo with the bat to turn the match in the Firebirds’ favour.
The hosts bowled well as a unit throughout and shone in the field to close out the win. First, Tom Blundell dove full-stretched to his right to have Hira caught behind and then van Beek produced two twinkle-toed efforts on the mid-wicket boundary to dismiss Guptill (60 off 53) and Ben Horne.
The equation was quickly out of reach and the home crowd lapped up the final two overs when victory was assured, completing a memorable day in the capital.
Article added: Monday 20 January 2020