Top qualifier the Auckland Aces have been crowned the men's Dream11 Super Smash champions after wet weather at Eden Park prevented a full game and result in the final match of an unforgettable 2023/24 season.
Runners-up the Canterbury Kings will meanwhile be wondering when the drought will be over, after having found themselves holding the silver medal for an incredible fourth consecutive year.
The Kings did everything they could to make the magic happen after having been sent in by Aces captain Robbie O'Donnell, but no one could beat the weather as the tail end of a cyclone whipped over the big city.
The Aces had been reshuffled ahead of the big game after Lockie Ferguson felt a tweak in his calf during warm-ups, the BLACKCAPS quick sitting out the match - but they still had a potent attack with big left-armer Ben Lister sizzling at the top and getting the wicket of Chad Bowes at 22/1 in the third over.
The Kings took it to the Aces, however, in the 14.2 overs of play that was possible before the match was cruelly cut short. Tom Latham spanked five sixes in his unbeaten 58* off 33 balls, and Henry Nicholls raced to 42 off 35 before he became a big wicket for Jock McKenzie.
But at 133/2 the final curtain of rain came down, and that was that. The Aces had lifted their first Dream11 Super Smash trophy since 2015/16 when they won at New Plymouth's old Yarrow Stadium. The Kings will try again all over again next summer, after not having taken this title since the very first season of the men's T20 competition in 2005/06.
