Wellington Blaze vs. Auckland HEARTS | HEARTS win by 110 runs
The HEARTS have restarted their Hallyburton Johnstone Shield defence with a crushing bonus-point win over the Wellington Blaze at Karori Park.
Asked to bat first, Lauren Down and Anna Peterson (24) were patient to start, working together to get the HEARTS underway. It was a sign of things to come for the HEARTS as a fine collective batting effort set up a match-winning total.
Three fifty partnerships were to follow between Down and Arlene Kelly (33) for the second wicket, Katie Perkins (30) and Holly Huddleston (31) for the fourth before Regina Lilii (24*) and Jesse Prasad (36) gave the innings the finish it deserved with 65 for the seventh wicket.
Down led the way, hitting 12 fours on her way to 69 off 79 balls. The HEARTS hit 32 fours in all, with a pair of sixes hit by Kelly and Perkins in an impressive return to 50-over batting. Thamsyn Newton was the best of the Blaze bowlers finishing with 3-36 from her seven overs.
With 285/7 on the board, Kelly and Huddleston drove the required run-rate beyond six an over early on. The wickets eventually fell and the first scalp fell to Peterson, trapping Burns in front in the 10th over.
Molly Penfold then struck with her second delivery before Roz McNeill underlined her tidy start by claiming the wicket of Newton. Three down, requiring 6.5 an over, Jess McFadyen did her best to keep the Blaze in the contest.
Even in the face of a developing 66-run stand between McFadyen and Georgia Plimmer (29), the bowlers stuck to their task. Kelly (2-25) returned to the attack and the all-rounder’s double-strike in the 29th over gave the HEARTS a good look at a bonus point.
Running out of partners after Huddleston combined with wicketkeeper Tariel Lamb to complete the run-out of Xara Jetly, McFadyen decided to chance her arm. McNeill (2-29) was on the money to bowl McFadyen for 75, before Peterson (3-42) sealed a 110-run victory with the Blaze all out for 175 in the 40th over.
The HEARTS and Blaze return to Karori Park tomorrow for Round Eight of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield.