Wikipedia - Super Smash (women's cricket)
The Women's Super Smash, known for sponsorship reasons as the Dream11 Super Smash, is a women's Twenty20 competition organised by New Zealand Cricket.
The competition began in 2007–08 and features six teams, who play each other twice in a double round-robin format. The winner of the group advances to the final, and the second and third placed teams play in an elimination final. The competition runs alongside the 50-over Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.
The current champions are Wellington Blaze, who won the 2023-24 competition and are the most successful team in the history of the competition with eight title wins.
History
The tournament began in 2007–08, as the State League Twenty20. Teams played each other once, with the winner of the group being crowned champions: Canterbury Magicians were the inaugural winners. The following season had a final, in which Wellington Blaze beat defending champions Canterbury.
The following season kept the same format, but was known as the New Zealand Cricket Women's Twenty20, with the Central Hinds winning their first title. For the following two seasons, the tournament was known as the Action Cricket Twenty20, before becoming simply the New Zealand Women's Twenty20 Competition until the 2017–18 season. In this period, Wellington and Canterbury won three titles apiece, and one each for Auckland Hearts and Otago Sparks.
In 2018–19, the tournament was renamed the Burger King Women's Super Smash, in line with the men's competition. In 2019–20, Dream11 became the sponsors, and an elimination final, a match between the second and third placed teams to advance to the final, was introduced. Wellington Blaze won three titles in a row between 2017–18 and 2019–20, but Canterbury beat them in the final in 2020–21. Wellington regained their title in 2021–22, going unbeaten in the group stage before beating Otago in the final. Canterbury won their sixth title in 2022–23, beating Wellington in the final after finishing third in the group stage. Wellington Blaze claimed their eighth title after defeating Central Hinds in the 2023–24 final.
A bajnokságban minden csapat kétszer játszik a másik öt csapattal a csoportkör során. A csoportkör első két helyezettje jut a döntőbe, ahol a bajnoki címért mérkőznek meg.
A Super Smash - nők egy fontos verseny az új-zélandi női krikettben, mivel ez az ország legjobb játékosainak ad lehetőséget, hogy nemzetközi szinten képviseljék hazájukat. A bajnokság segít a női krikett népszerűsítésében Új-Zélandon, és segít a tehetséges fiatal játékosok azonosításában és fejlesztésében.