Wellington Blaze suffered a weekend of mixed results at home as Northern Spirit backed up Friday’s Women’s T20 success by claiming Sunday’s Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day tussle at Karori Park.
Bouncing back from their loss at the same venue the previous day, Spirit battled the Blaze in searing heat as the capital turned on a scorcher, but it was all worth it for the northerners as they closed out a tight five-wicket win.
Sadly for the Blaze, the loss wasn’t what they had ordered for captain Liz Perry’s 100th one-day appearance for the side, Perry herself one of three cheap middle order wickets that robbed the hosts of a chance to rebuild.
Spirit had already taken care of both openers, Mereana Hyde (3-32) trapping Lucy Doolan early doors and Amelia Kerr caught behind to have the Wellingtonians 42 for two, both openers removed for single figures.
It was Fran Wilson (23) and Eimear Richardson (38) who helped get the scoreboard moving, but Wilson was lost to a runout in the 16th before Hyde added Perry to her bag and Sam Curtis accounted for Richardson.
Despite a late 30 off 28 balls from Jess Kerr (below), Blaze were having a rare struggle with the bat and found themselves rolled out for 196 in the last over.
Then Spirit’s opening pair came out firing after lunch and smacked up a 54-run opening platform to get the visitors off to a healthy start.
WHITE FERNS leggie Amelia Kerr prised them apart at the end of the 16th when Bernadine Bezuidenhout offered her a return catch on 32, Nat Dodd (above) however carrying on to the 40th over for her 62, the captain’s knock ensuring Spirit stayed on course before Jess Kerr (below) finally broke though to have the guests 136 for three.
Blaze needed to elicit a quick collapse now, but despite Kerr striking again a few overs later to stop Felicity Leydon-Davis just shy of a half ton, aggressive finishing and wickets in hand allowed Spirit to reach their goal with seven balls to spare.
