The time-honoured cliché about certainties in life may need to be adjusted to death, taxes, and Wellington Blaze winning the women’s Super Smash.
The most dominant New Zealand T20 team of the last decade did it again this afternoon at Hagley Oval, defeating the Auckland Hearts by five wickets to lift the trophy for the seventh time in the last nine seasons.
Only the Canterbury Magicians have beaten them in that period (twice, in the 2021 and 2023 Grand Finals) and the Blaze now chalks up its second three-peat — having first achieved that feat in the 2019/20 season.
They are the only team to have won three Super Smashes in a row, and overall, have now won this trophy 10 times in its 19 seasons of existence.
The Blaze headed into their latest Grand Final having dropped just two of their regular season games to power into the trophy match as the top qualifier.
It was, by contrast, the Auckland Hearts’ first Grand Final appearance since 2020, just squeaking into the Finals weekend this season, and defeating the higher ranked Northern Brave in yesterday’s Elimination Final by eight wickets.
They were a side that looked to be timing their run nicely.
Green won the toss and batted with an unchanged XI — putting the onus straight onto Jess Kerr’s team to live up to their reputation with the ball, with a fast outfield in the Christchurch sun.
The match-ups abounded between two strong line-ups.
Izzy Gaze (31 off 22) negotiated Jess Kerr’s dangerous early swing and Prue Catton (22) survived a couple of Xara Jetly darts, but it was Jetly (2/27) who got the breakthrough at 42/1 in the sixth over.
Xara Jetly jumps for joy. All images: PHOTOSPORT
Gaze had looked to attack her, only to slam a catch to Rebecca Burns. Still, it was a good power play for the Hearts, bringing Green to the middle with a platform set.
After Catton was stumped off a Jess Simmons wide on 22, Brooke Halliday came to the crease at 68/2, just before the halfway mark.
The two Ferns, Green (29) and Halliday (31 off 25) patiently but steadily constructed a 54-run stand for the third wicket; meanwhile the Blaze spilled some difficult chances.
Prue Catton departs
The Hearts were now on for a good total, but were guilty of letting the Blaze off the hook in the last quartile, ticking along to 146/5 without quite the escalation at the death that they would have liked.
In the chase, the Blaze would need seven an over from the outset and, at 48 without loss after the power play, were on track early.
Burns and Georgia Plimmer propelled the score to 66 without loss until Bella Armstrong slid one through, trapping Plimmer for a run-a-ball 28 at the end of the ninth.
Blaze captain Kerr brought herself to the middle at that moment, her side needing 76 off the last 10 overs.
Rebecca Burns top-scored for the champions
But she would lose a trio of partners in quick succession, from the 13th to 15th overs, as quick strikes pushed the pendulum right back to the Hearts.
It was Molly Penfold who had delivered the near-perfect counterpunch, taking two wickets from two overs and conceding just a single.
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Burns had been caught for a brisk 55, then she zeroed in on the top of off to remove Hannah Francis at the start of the 15th.
In between, Bree Illing removed Jetly cheaply with a wicket maiden of her own and, at 97/4 with five to go, the pressure was back on the Blaze to lift their strike rate.
Kerr was still there, and stared at the scoreboard knowing her side needed 27 runs off the last two overs, then 14 off the last, when Halliday took the ball for a Grand Final that was going down to the wire.
Catton ran out Jess McFadyen mid-over to leave the Blaze needing eight form three, but two Jess Kerr sixes either side had her needing two runs from the last two balls.
Back from the brink, the Blaze won the match with a ball to spare to keep their remarkable record intact, a threepeat in the bag again.
Captain Kerr - without the services of her superstar sister for most of this campaign - bringing it home with a boundary, unbeaten on 46* off 26 balls.
2026 Women’s Super Smash Grand Final
Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Saturday, 31 January 2026
Wellington Blaze (Q1) defeated the Auckland Hearts (Q3) by five wickets
The attention of all Domestic women’s teams now turns to the business end of the national one-day Hallyburton Johnstone Shield with next weekend’s seventh and eighth rounds.
The Hearts will have two rematches with the Central Hinds at Auckland’s Kennards Hire Community Oval; the Canterbury Magicians host current leader Northern Districts at Hagley and Wellington Blaze (second on the ladder) host the Otago Sparks at the Cello Basin Reserve.
Two more rounds follow in mid-February with the top two teams then proceeding to the 21 February Final, also at the Basin.
