At Pukekura Park, New Plymouth: Canterbury Kings 185-4 off 20 overs (Cole McConchie 79 not out off 47 balls, Michael Rippon 58no off 33; Bevan Small 3-46 off 4 overs) beat Central Stags 142-8 from 19 overs (Dane Cleaver 47 off 36, Josh Clarkson 26 off 22) by 33 runs on the DLS method. Click here for full scorecard.

Skipper Cole McConchie needed a tickle-up to get going, but responded to lead Canterbury to a Super Smash win over the hosts in New Plymouth.

McConchie was struck in the ribs by a short delivery from Black Caps and Central Stags paceman Blair Tickner as the visitors batted first at Pukekura Park.

Yet it didn’t stop him from delivering a captain’s knock, rescuing the visitors’ innings after a slow start as they triumphed by 33 runs under the DLS method after a late break for bad light in Central’s run-chase.

McConchie also had his bat handle broken by a Tickner delivery, but by that stage he’d made handy work of the short boundaries. Joined by fellow spin-bowling allrounder Michael Rippon when the Kings were 53 for 4 in the ninth over, the pair put on an unbroken 132-run partnership off 66 balls for the fifth wicket.

Rippon posted his highest score – 58 not out off 33 balls – in the Super Smash competition, while the captain made 79 off 47, including eight sixes.

Under-fire Black Caps batter Henry Nicholls may have clicked over 1000 T20 domestic runs, and survived a lbw shout in the eighth over when he was on 19, but his undoing was care of fellow New Zealand test team-mate Ajaz Patel.

Nicholls top-edged a delivery from Bevan Small, forcing Patel to turn and run. He almost went too far in pursuit, but corrected and took an exceptional reverse-cup catch to remove Nicholls for 23.

Nicholls has face plenty of scrutiny of late. In November, during the domestic one-day competition, he was accused, but ultimately cleared of, ball tampering, and his international selection came into question after he was selected over in-form Rachin Ravindra for the recent two-test series in Bangladesh, in which Nicholls failed to fire. He’ll be seeking selection for the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan, but a question mark remains if he will be selected for any home test series this summer.

Dropped catches plagued the Kings in the field, including two in the 11th over, but their breakthrough came in the 14th over when Zak Foulkes clean bowled Central’s top-scorer Cleaver for 47 off 36, and his partner Josh Clarkson followed soon after for 26 as the required run-rate grew too steep for the hosts.