The Wellington Blaze have made it to the Burger King Super Smash final, as the Northern Spirit beat the Canterbury Magicians by five wickets at Hagley Oval this afternoon.
The result means the Blaze are guaranteed at least second place, and gives them the chance to secure back to back titles.
"There were a few nervous moments in the office, I was pacing up and down and refused to follow the live scoring, but at the end I couldn't help myself. It's nice to secure that finals spot," said Blaze skipper Liz Perry.
"Being two or three games ahead of everyone else, we could only control what we could control and wait for the rest of the teams to catch up. We did what we needed to on Sunday by getting the win against the Magicians."
The final, which will be live on SKY Sport, is scheduled for Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland, on Sunday 20 January at 4pm - the Blaze's attention now turns to maintaining their momentum.
"We've only just started to hit our straps in Twenty20. We spoke about needing to prepare as if we were in the final, and now that we are, we have a clear idea of what we need to do and will prepare accordingly when we know who we'll come up against."
If the Auckland Hearts, with 24 points from nine matches, win their encounter with the Otago Sparks this Sunday they will join the Blaze in the final. The Canterbury Magicians, with 22 points from nine matches, will qualify if they beat the Central Hinds at Hagley Oval on Sunday, and the Hearts stumble against the Sparks.
The Blaze were T20 champions in 2017/18
"It would be nice to play the Hearts at their home ground, and the Magicians certainly deserve to be there, being a form team. Whoever it is, we need to back our players to get the job done. I'll be following the matches on Sunday, but I won't be as nervous as I was this afternoon!" said Liz Perry.
Upcoming games
13 January - Otago Sparks v Auckland Hearts at University Oval, Dunedin at 12.45pm [Live on Radio Sport]
13 January - Canterbury Magicians v Central Hinds at Hagley Oval, Christchurch at 12.45pm [Live on SKY Sport]
