Ōtautahi – Kiwi cricket Kiwis will be spoilt this summer for big action short version T20 cricket.
The 2022-23 Dream11 Super Smash will be played all over Aotearoa including 64 games, 32 men’s and women’s double-headers, starting on December 23 and played at 10 venues across 10 cities.`
Scheduled to coincide with the school break and summer holidays, the latest round of New Zealand’s domestic T20 games will welcome back families following the challenges of last season’s covid-related restrictions.
Every The Dream11 Super Smash game will be streamed live on Spark Sport and half the games and 32 will be broadcast live TVNZ.
The action will start with a round that includes a repeat of last year’s men’s and women’s finals, the current men’s champions Northern Brave squaring off against the Canterbury Kings at Bay Oval, and reigning women’s champions the Wellington Blaze taking on the Otago Sparks at the Cello Basin Reserve.
Double headers will be played in Wellington on Christmas Eve, Christchurch on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, and in New Plymouth on New Year’s Eve.
The 2022-23 competition should build on the momentum of the domestic T20 game over the past five years similar to the Big Bash in Australia and The Hundred in the UK.
“As the Black Caps and White Ferns have shown at the last T20 World Cup and Commonwealth Games, Aotearoa has some strong international T20 players.
Last season the coverage attracted more than 1.4m viewers, and the number of people tuning in has doubled over the past five years which is terrific for exposing the game to fans and young New Zealanders.
The Super Smash is fun, full of action in a few hours but still retains a serious edge in terms of high-performance. It’s the ultimate cricket mix.
Given venue sizes and the popularity of cricket during the holiday season, it is likely some games will sell out and keen fans are starting to purchase their tickets in advance.
Photo: Four of the Super Smash captains
