HEARTS vs. Hinds | HEARTS won by eight wickets.
The HEARTS have given them the best possible chance of sneaking into the Elimination Final with a comfortable win over the Hinds on Essential Workers Day.
History was made when the players stepped out onto Eden Park No. 1 to play the first Domestic Women’s T20 at the National Stadium and the HEARTS put on a show.
Bowling first, a tidy start was punctuated by Holly Huddleston , playing in her 100th Domestic T20, knocking back the off stump off Emily Cunningham. It would take some time for the HEARTS to pick up a second wicket as Kerry Tomlinson (40) and Rosemary Mair (34) put together a fine second-wicket stand.
Bella Armstrong (2-24) gave the HEARTS two new players to bowl at, only for Mikaela Greig (26*) and skipper Hannah Rowe (21*) to lift the Hinds to 135/3 from their 20 overs. Arlene Kelly was again outstanding, conceding just 12 runs from her accurate set of four overs.
HEARTS openers Katie Perkins and Lauren Down (36) then showed little concern for their new surroundings, establishing a new record of 111 for the first wicket. Perkins would pay a fine tribute to her fellow Essential Workers, scoring 67 off 54 balls in a knock that included 7 fours and a six.
Victory would come in the 19th over to keep the HEARTS in the hunt for the business end of the competition.
ACES vs. Stags | Stags won by ten runs
The ACES gave it a good crack, but came up ten runs short of signing off the T20 summer with a win over the Central Stags.
Runs at the top gave the Stags the early impetus through the powerplay. Ben Smith was the standout Stags performer, hitting a career-best 80 off 49 balls.
The ACES fought back through the second half of the inning, with spinners Adithya Ashok (3-28) and Will Somerville challenging the Stags middle-order. Lockie Ferguson then brought the crowd into the match going past the edge on a hat trick ball to Seth Rance.
Chasing 177, the ACES would need a fast start. It didn’t come with Rance picking up the first two wickets. Three down at the tend of the powerplay, it took the fifties of Robbie O’Donnell (68) and Glenn Phillips (52) to put the ACES back on the front foot.
The required run-rate hovered around 12 runs per over late on and the Stags were able to shut down the death overs to finish their campaign with a win.