da 888casino： Matt Boyle (Canterbury), the breakout star of the 2024-25 Super Smash, will go up against his older brother Jack Boyle (Central Districts) in the final on Sunday
da betsul： Deivarayan Muthu01-Feb-2025Two teams who have traversed contrasting paths in the 2024-25 Super Smash will meet on Sunday, for a title that has been eluding them for years.Central Districts, unarguably the form team of the tournament, with six wins in their eight completed games, will be chasing their first T20 trophy since 2018-19. Though Canterbury have only snuck into the final this season they’re more familiar with this territory. They made the final in the past four seasons, but the title kept slipping away from their grasp.Canterbury had last won the T20 title way back in the inaugural edition in 2005-06, when Peter Fulton, their current coach, was an active player along with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and Nathan Astle.Will 2024-25 finally be Canterbury’s season? Their captain Cole McConchie believes so. “I don’t think it [being runners-up in the last four seasons] affects our approach,” he said in the lead-up to finals weekend. “That determination and motivation factor is always high. I think any time you get the chance to compete for silverware, you know, we always want to add it to our cabinet.”I think [winning the title] would mean a lot. I think, if we’re honest, we’ll put a big tag on the T20 title. And, you know, it would certainly mean a lot to the boys and the association. You know, very fortunate with the support that we get at Hagley with our friends and family and the cricketing community. And, we’ve had plenty of messages of support from the Canterbury cricket community.”The stars are aligning and shining for Canterbury. After a washout at the Basin Reserve KO’d Wellington and helped Canterbury sneak into the Eliminator, Canterbury’s all-New Zealand attack, led by Matt Henry and a fit-again Kyle Jamieson, pinned Northern Districts down to 110 for 9. At one point in that game, Henry was threatening to emulate Lockie Ferguson by bowling four maidens, but two runs off his final over saw him miss the record. Nevertheless, his 4-3-2-2 was the most-economical four-over spell in New Zealand’s domestic T20 competition.Matt Boyle then cracked 48 off 25 balls to fortify his status as the breakout player of this season. In all, the tall, big-hitter has scored a chart-topping 375 runs at an average of 41.66 and strike rate of 158.22 going into the final. His captain McConchie is enthused by his progress.”You know, [in] the last few years, he showed glimpses in games,” McConchie said. “All of us lads have seen what he does at training, and, you know, he’s a quality striker of the ball, and a quality player. And, you know, he’s worked really hard at his game, and to see him get the rewards is not surprising for us, because we know the sort of quality that he is.”Jack Boyle has been a strong presence at the top for Central Districts•Getty Images
Boyle vs Boyle in battle of the brothersTom Bruce, the Central Districts captain, slots in right behind Matt Boyle as the second-highest run-getter so far this season, with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike rate of 164.14. CD have had other heroes as well: seamer Blair Tickner tops the wickets charts till now, while Jack Boyle, formerly of Canterbury and Matt’s elder brother, has done the job at the top, setting up the platform for Bruce and Co. to launch. In CD’s last league fixture against Auckland, Angus Schaw, Jack’s landlord, brought a challenging chase home.The battle between Matt and Jack will divide the family’s loyalties and add more spice to the final.”Yeah, I think the good part is it’s been different guys have been contributing every game, and that’s all you’re after,” Bruce said. “Obviously as captain, it’s nice to score some runs myself as well and be consistent, but at different games and different times, other guys have stepped up and have really led the way. So really pleasing to see some of the guys show a bit of consistency there and sort of lead from the front, which has been awesome.”For Bruce, who had captained CD to Super Smash glory in 2018-19, the focus is on adding another trophy to his kitty.”Yeah, look, 2018-19 season was the last time we lifted the T20 trophy and it’s the only time in my ten-year career,” Bruce said. There’s a few guys there that played in that game as well, so obviously fond memories for those guys. And saying that, the previous year we got our pants pulled down a wee bit from ND as well, so some not-so-fond memories there. So a lot of guys, it’s their first finals experience, so awesome to see them and to see how they’ll come through the day and through the opportunity.”
