Allround Jacinta Savage headline Canterbury Magicians' thumping of Northern Districts in round three of HBJ Shield

Career-best allround performance from Jacinta Savage headlined Canterbury Magicians' thumping 84-run win over Northern Districts in the third round of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield at Cobham Oval in Whangarei on Saturday (December 5).



Put into bat, Magicians lost three early wickets-including in-form batters Frances Mackay and Kate Ebrahim- inside the 15 overs to be reduced to 59 for 3 with Kayley Knight striking twice for Northern Districts.



Batting at number five, Savage in the company of Natalie Cox put on a 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket to take Magicians to 134 in 26.4 overs. After Cox’s dismissal, Savage brought up her highest List A score going past her previous best of 55 but was soon dismissed for 59.



Magicians were eventually bowled out for 236 in 49.5 overs with Knight, Lucy Boucher and Charlotte Sarsfield taking two wickets each.



Chasing a target of 237 to win, Northern District found themselves in early trouble with Savage castling Caitlin Gurrey in the second over and Katie Sims getting rid of skipper Felicity Leydon-Davis in the next over.



ALSO READ: Halliday, Richardson headline Northern Districts big win; Jess Watkin thumps Auckland Hearts in HBJ Shield



Magicians struck in regular intervals to reduce Northern District to 81 for 5 in 23.2 overs. From there, it was an uphill task for them even though Olivia Lobb and Eimear Richardson put on a partnership to take the score to 131 in the 34^th over.



However, once leg-spinner Sarah Asmussen broke the partnership of 50 Northern Districts’ innings crumbled to 152 all out in 38.1 overs with Savage coming back to take the last three wickets-including that of top-scorer Richardson to get to her first List A five-wicket haul. She finished with figures of 6 for 18, second-best List A bowling performance in Magicians history.



Elsewhere, Central Hinds also registered their third consecutive win defeating Wellington Blaze by eight wickets at Donnelly Park in Levin. Blaze lost their all three matches so far.



Having been put in to bat, Blaze got off to a reasonable start with Jess McFadyen and Rebecca Burns putting on 49 runs for the opening wicket. Although all the top four batter got starts, once Monique Rees struck in the 11^th over of the match to remove Burns, they struggled to get any sort of partnership going.



At one stage Blaze were 88 for 2, Caitlin King became Jess Watkin’s first wicket when she was dismissed for 18 and Georgia Plimmer soon joined her in the pavilion to leave Blaze struggling at 98 for 4. They never recovered from that stage and lost last seven wickets for 13 runs to be skittled out for 111 in 38.4 overs.







Watkin finished with her best List A figures of 4 for 13, while Mikaela Greig, playing her 50^th List A match, took two wickets at the end with her off-breaks.



In the chase, Hinds didn’t face any challenge from the Wellington bowlers. Although they lost Emily Cunningham to a hit-wicket, Watkin’s quickfire 27-ball 29 got them to 67 in the 18^th over with Natalie Dodd playing the anchor role at the other end. Once Watkin was dismissed Dodd (37*) in the company of skipper Anlo van Deventer (21*) took them home with plenty of overs to spare.



Over in Queen's Park in Invercargill, Auckland Hearts registered their first win of the competition beating Otago Sparks by eight wickets in a rain-reduced encounter.



After putting Sparks into bat in a 24 overs a side match, Hearts restricted them to 116 for 5 before chasing the target down in 17.4 overs.



For Hearts, Molly Penfold struck early in the second over to trap Gemma Adams in front for a duck. Caitlin Blakely’s 44 and an 18-ball 22 from wicket-keeper Polly Inglis were the highlights of Sparks’ innings, while Jesse Prasad finished with figures of 2 for 12 from her five overs.



In reply, captain Lauren Down and Bella Armstrong put on a quick 63-run partnership for the second wicket from 56 balls to put Hearts on the driving seat. Even though Down was dismissed in the 14^th over for 40, Armstrong kept going and brought up her fifty in 43 balls before smashing a four and a six to finish the match in style.



Brief Scores:



Canterbury Magicians 236/10 in 49.5 overs (Jacinta Savage 59, Natalie Cox 37; Kayley Knight 2/25, Lucy Boucher 2/27) beat Northern Districts 152/10 in 38.1 overs (Eimear Richardson 35, Olivia Lobb 32; Jacinta Savage 6/18, Sarah Asmussen 2/23) by 84 runs.



Wellington Blaze 111/10 in 38.4 overs (Jess McFadyen 25; Jess Watkin 4/13, Mikaela Greig 2/5) lost to Central Hinds 112/2 in 27.2 overs (Natalie Dodd 37*, Jess Watkin 29; Xara Jetly 2/41) by eight wickets.



Otago Sparks 116/5 in 24 overs (Caitlin Blakely 44, Jesse Prasad 2/12) lost to Auckland Hearts 121/2 in 17.4 overs (Bella Armstrong 62*, Lauren Down 40) by eight wickets.