.png)
The Northern Brave have picked up a first win of the season and Wellington have kept their winning streak alive.
Northern Brave Women vs Wellington Blaze
The Blaze won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision they would surely regret at the end of the innings.
Marama Downes struck in the first over of the innings with the dismissal of Jess McFadyen for a duck.
Rebecca Burns and Blaze captain Amelia Kerr attacked the spin of Nensi Patel in the second over with 12 runs coming from it and they also took Jess Watkin for eight runs from the third over.
Overseas international Chamari Athapaththu then had an amazing first over in her Super Smash career with the wickets of Kerr (11) and Burns (16).
Watkin then had the Blaze in further trouble with the wicket of Georgia Plimmer for 3 and the Blaze sitting at 32/4.
Downes was reintroduced into the bowling attack following her quality first over with the wicket of Kate Chandler and leaving the visitors reeling at 40/5.
Jess Kerr and Leigh Kasperek rebuilt the Blaze innings well with a solid 41-run stand for the sixth wicket. They had two 12-run overs in the partnership with Kayley Knight and Carol Agafili’s single overs taking the tap.
With the loss of Kerr for a quick 23 from 15 it caused a lower order collapse from 81/5 to 95/9.
Kasperek was run out for 16 from 24, then Gemma Sims went for six from nine on her Wellington T20 debut. Natasha Codyre was the ninth wicket down as she fell for three.
Nicole Baird finished as the last player out for nine and Xara Jetly was not out on 7*.
The Blaze finished on 110/10 in 19.4 overs. Athapaththu took figures of 4/19 and Downes had 2/19.
Caitlin Gurrey and Athapaththu got the Brave off to a fast start with the bat as they combined for a 47-run opening stand before Gurrey went just after 6.5 overs for 33 from 28.
Athapaththu could only last eight more runs as she made 19 being bowled by Amelia Kerr.
Jess Watkin only added eight runs to the total and the Brave found themselves in a tight position at 60/3 at just under halfway through the innings.
The experienced Sam Bariball combined with Marina Lamplough kept the run scoring ticking over as Bariball saw off the experienced Blaze bowling attack of Amelia Kerr (2/26), Jess Kerr (0/21) and Kasperek (0/17) to leave the Brave at 81/4 when Lamplough was dismissed for 10.
Barriball and captain Eimear Richardson got the home team up to 101/4 and with ten balls left it looked like they were going to cruise to victory.
However, Baird struck and had Barriball gone for 24. Richardson (6*) and Nensi Patel (10*) were able to see the Brave home with two balls to spare.
Northern Brave Men vs Wellington Firebirds
The Firebirds had a fast start with the bat as Tim Robinson and Tom Blundell had a quickfire 22-run stand in the first 15 balls before Robinson was out for 20.
Blundell was struggling to get off the mark and in his first seven balls, he only made two runs. However, once he got going there was no looking back for the Blackcaps international. A 12 run over off Scott Kuggeleijn was followed up with an 11 run over off Brett Hampton.
Blundell then went crazy in the last over of the powerplay as he took 26 runs off Matt Fisher’s opening over and propelled the Firebirds to 72/1 at the end of the powerplay.
With Nick Kelly sitting down on the other end and watching Blundell’s onslaught, he too tried the same but found the hands of Jeet Raval and went for nine.
Muhammad Abbas joined the explosive Blundell in the middle and they added 31 runs in just over three overs. Kuggeleijn struck with the massive wicket of Blundell for 71 from only 39 balls to leave the Firebirds at 114/3 after 12 overs.
Wellington’s young players, Abbas and Jesse Tashkoff, showed why they had been selected as they shared a 28-run stand for the fourth wicket but spinner Tim Pringle had the last laugh with Abbas’ wicket for 23.
Neil Wagner then struck in the seventeenth over with Tashkoff gone for 22. Callum McLachlan came out and hit a quick 22 from 15 but fell with one over to go.
Hampton bowled an excellent final over as he only conceded five runs whilst taking the wickets of Nathan Smith for two and Logan van Beek for a first-ball duck.
The Firebirds finished on 177/8 from their 20 overs with Blundell’s 71 being the main contribution. Wagner (3/17) was the main wicket-taker for the home team.
In pursuit of 178, the Brave had a horrible start with the bat losing both openers inside the first two overs. Tim Seifert made 5 and Katene Clarke got one to leave the Brave at 6/2.
Kuggeleijn was promoted up the order but was only able to muster six from two balls.
Joe Carter and Jeet Raval seemed to be building a good stand in the middle with Raval showing the aggressive side of his cricket.
When Peter Younghusband had Carter for 15 in the eighth over and Ben Sears getting Henry Cooper in the next over for two, the Brave knew that it would be up to Raval if they had any chance of winning.
Raval and Hampton had a great 48-run stand to resurrect the innings before Younghusand struck twice in his final over to have Hampton (14) and Raval (62).
Freddy Walker and Pringle played some aggressive shots but they were left with too much work to do as the Firebirds grabbed a 23-run win.
Comments