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Otago and Auckland won both their fixtures in the HBJ Shield this weekend.
Round Three:
Central Districts vs Auckland Hearts:
A final ball thriller in Palmerston North was led by White Fern Molly Penfold, who grabbed 37* and three wickets in the match.
There was support from Penfold in Auckland’s chase of 247, with Amie Hucker’s 21 and debutant Anika Tauwhare’s 6* being vital to get over the line.
Having been sent in to bat opener, Georgia Atkinson fell in the fourth over to Penfold, with the Hearts gaining the early momentum.
Central’s innings with the bat were led by youngster Emma McLeod at the top of the order with 35, along with Thamsyn Newton’s highest List A score of 84, the pair combining for a 91-run second wicket stand.
A gutsy 46 at number five from Hannah Rowe and a quickfire 36* from 24 balls by Kerry Tomlinson got the Hinds through to 246/9.
Young seamer Bree Illing ended with four wickets as she rolled through the Hinds’ middle to lower order.
White Fern Rosemary Mair showed her power with the ball, grabbing three wickets, but it just wasn’t enough for the Hinds, who ended up falling to a two-wicket loss after Penfold’s heroics with the bat to save the game for the visitors.
Otago Sparks vs Wellington Blaze:
Otago went into the fixture at the University of Otago in Dunedin on the top of the table and were looking to extend their lead over the other sides.
Bella James’ 101* at the top of the order in their chase of 187, and Felicity Robertson’s 55* got their side over the line to grab all five points that were on offer.
The visitors struggled to get going in their batting innings, particularly, however, once Otago’s new recruit Anna Browning came into the attack, finishing with four wickets.
Wellington captain Rebecca Burns led the way with the bat, finishing on 44 before falling to her opposing skipper, Robertson, for 44.
Xara Jetly continued her showings with the bat, striking 42* as the Blaze limped to 186 from their 50 overs, along with Jess Kerr, the pair put on a 47-run sixth wicket stand.
Otago lost a couple of early wickets, that of Saffron Wilson (9) and Caitlin Blakely (10), but once James and Robertson got going, they picked up the win.
Canterbury Magicians vs Northern Districts
Young opener Yaz Kareem and veteran Caitlin Gurrey led the Northern Districts chase in Rangiora after Kate Ebrahim and Nat Cox had earlier set the tone in the Canterbury innings.
Being sent into bat, the Magicians found themselves on the backfoot early on as seamer Marama Downes trapped Kate Anderson for two in the second over.
Having further lost Jodie Dean (20) and Izzy Sharp (0) just after the 20th over, the home side were sitting in some trouble at 69/3.
Ebrahim’s 106* and Nat Cox’s 95* ensured that Canterbury would get through the rest of the innings without further loss, but would perhaps be ruing the fact they never really accelerated throughout the innings.
Nensi Patel kept things tight with 2/25 from her ten overs, and the ever-reliable Jess Watkin chipped in with 0/43 from her ten.
Losing Tash Wakelin early, Northern was going to need a partnership, and that was led by Kareem and Gurrey.
Making her first List A 50 and, therefore, going on to her highest score of 79, Kareem was key to the 159-run second wicket stand with Gurrey, who finished on 70.
Missy Banks picked up both Kareem and Gurrey, however, it was a little too late as Watkin’s 23 and Patel’s 33* got Northern home by six wickets.
Round Four:
Central Districts vs Auckland Hearts:
Backing up yesterday’s thrilling win over the Hinds was always going to be important for Auckland as they look to carry on their momentum.
They did just as well with the top three batters of, Saachi Shahri (62), Lauren Down (129), and Izzy Gaze (51), all showing their talent with the bat.
It was an important innings for Down, with a spot at the top of the order up for grabs with the national side due to Georgia Plimmer’s injury.
The Hinds struggled with the ball, particularly the fact that Hannah Rowe only bowled six overs, and they were without Rosemary Mair due to bowling loads.
It did require the likes of part-time options such as Emma McLeod (2/47), Thamsyn Newton (1/52) and Georgia Atkinson (0/13) to bowl 20 overs between them.
A 172-run opening stand by Shahri and Down set the tone, and this was then bolstered by a 94-run stand between Gaze and Down.
It allowed the Hearts to get through to 304 from their 50 overs.
Bree Illing applied pressure at the top of the bowling innings partnered with Molly Penfold they had the Hinds in trouble early on at 3/18.
McLeod (35) and Rowe (32) did put on a 32-run stand in response, but at 4/50 and then 107/5, it was looking like the Hearts were going to canter home.
Resistance in the middle order by the all-round talent of Flora Devonshire, who struck her maiden List A 50, and Kerry Tomlinson’s 34 from 30 did allow the Hinds to get over the 200 mark, but it wasn’t enough.
In her second List A match, Anika Tauwhare finished with three wickets as the Hearts bowled the Hinds out for 209 to take a 95-run win.
Otago Sparks vs Wellington Blaze
Otago continued their strong form to start the season off with yet another win to stay top of the table and on the maximum 20 points.
It was a day out at the top of the order for Wellington youngster Hannah Francis, who struck her first List A 50 and ended on 79 in the Blaze’s all-out innings of 190.
Caitlin King got herself off to a start with 22, and Leigh Kasperek provided support through the middle overs to Francis with 33, but no player was able to push along like Francis and make a big score.
All of the Otago bowlers were on song, with Hayley Jensen’s 2/28 and Eden Carson’s 2/34 being the highlights, along with Chloe Deerness’ 2/36, breaking Francis’ and Kapserek’s 73-run stand.
Like usual, Bella James’ 46 got the Sparks off well in the chase, and the 54-run stand alongside Caitlin Blakely (54) was critical in getting over the line and managing to pick up the full five points.
Polly Inglis, in her 101st List A match, struck 42* from 38 to help Otago get their well-deserved win with 12 overs to spare.
Even a slight middle-order collapse, triggered by the spin of Xara Jetly (3/36) and Kasperek (2/46), wasn’t enough for the Blaze.
Canterbury Magicians vs Northern Districts
Off the back of their second victory of the season yesterday, Northern went into the match looking to pick up another win and keep the winning momentum going.
It was again Yaz Kareem (41) and Caitlin Gurrey (44) who led the way with the bat as they combined for a 92-run second wicket stand.
A middle order contribution once again by Nensi Patel of 36 managed to get Northern through to 209, being bowled out in the 44th over.
Sarah Asmussen was the player who destroyed Northern’s middle order, finishing with figures of 4/53.
Kate Ebrahim led from the front with another not-out score (86*) as Canterbury chased down the target in 39.5 overs.
Partnered with youngsters Harriet Graham (43) and Izzy Sharp (39), the three of them brought stability, and whilst the Northern bowlers tried their best to restrict them, it wasn’t enough.
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