Dominant Blaze cruise to victory over Magicians

Thursday (January 9) saw yet another dominant performance from Wellington Blaze as they breezed past Canterbury Magicians by eight wickets in the Super Smash competition at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The leg-spinning duo of Amelia Kerr and Deanna Doughty starred with the ball picking up seven wickets between them to restrict Magicians to just 96 runs before Rebecca Burns' unbeaten 53 guided the team to a win with 41 balls to spare.

Having elected to bat first, Magicians' innings was derailed early as Blaze's spin trio of Doughty, Kerr and Leigh Kasperek combined to reduce them to 54 for 4 in six overs. Through that period, only Kirsty Nation appeared to be in control of proceedings, racing to 32 off just 21 balls, but her innings was cut short by Kerr.

Following that wicket, Blaze took complete control of the game - the bowlers chipping away at the wickets refusing to let the visitors rebuild their innings. It was skipper Frances Mackay's unbeaten 20 - only the second double digit score of the innings - that eventually pushed Magicians to a total of 96. She eventually ran out of partners with five balls to spare.

For Blaze, Kerr finished with figures of 4 for 15, while Doughty took 3 for 16.

Chasing a modest target of 97 Blaze got off to a flying start as their openers Rachel Priest and Burns shared a 68-run partnership for the opening wicket. It was an association that knocked the stuffing out of Magicians, coming at a rate of over eight runs and over.

Although Priest was dismissed for a 22-ball 27, and her exit was soon followed by that of Kasperek, their wickets did little to halt Blaze's progress as they cruised to the target in 13.1 overs. Burns' unconquered 38-ball knock consisted of eight fours and a six.

Blaze's victory means they remain unbeaten in the league so far.

Brief Scores: Canterbury Magicians 96 in 19.3 overs (Kirsty Nation 32, Frances Mackay 20*; Amelia Kerr 4-15, Deanna Doughty 3-16 ) lost to Wellington Blaze 100/2 in 13.1 overs (Rebecca Burns 53*, Rachel Priest 27) by eight wickets.