Hearts and Hinds to battle it out in Hallyburton Johnstone Shield final

In Round 10 of New Zealand's domestic one-day competition, Hallyburton Johnstone Sheild, the finalists for this edition were decided.

Auckland Hearts beat Wellington Blaze by 13 runs

Batting first, the Hearts put a competitive total of 211-9 on the board. A 68-run opening stand between Holly Huddleston (31 off 50) and S. Shahri (25 off 54) set the tone of the innings early on. Contributions of 37 each from A. Kelly and E. Fullbrook then lifted the Hearts to 211. For the Blaze, A. Evans, W. Campbell and R. Burns took a wicket each.

In their reply, Blaze got off to a shaky start, losing 3-79. However, a 70-run stand between skipper Liz Perry (55) and Thamsyn Newton (53) steadied the innings for their side, putting them in a strong position. Once Perry's wicket fell though, stumped by T. Lamb off the bowling of B. Armstrong, it triggered a collapse. Blaze lost their remaining seven wickets for just 49 runs and were bowled out in the last over. Their qualification then rested on the result of the clash between Hinds and Otago Sparks.

Central Hinds beat Otago Sparks by nine wickets

The Sparks, without their star internationals in Suzie Bates and Katey Martin struggled. They got off to a nightmare start batting first, and were unable to pick up from there. Sparks lost two for their top three for ducks, with a total of four batters failing to get off the mark. Their innings never really got underway. I. James and E. Black top-scored with 36 each, while the only others to reach double figures were E. Brown (14) and extras (13). As a result, the Sparks were bundled out for 116.

M. Hansen, J. Watkin, K. Baxter, G. Atkinson and M. Grieg all took two wickets each for the Hinds up front. Their batters then got the job done the 21st over to register a bonus point win, cementing their place in the final. Despite losing Watkin early, an unbeaten 103-run partnership between Natalie Dodd (44) and skipper A. van Deventer (51) guided their side home.

Molly Loe, on debut, was the only Sparks bowler to claim a scalp.

Norther Spirit beat Canterbury Magicians by eight wickets 

In a high scoring affair, Spirit cruised to an eight wicket win over the Magicians, in their pursuit of 308.

A 58-run opening stand between N. Cox and K. Nation, who both registered scores of 30, laid the foundation for the Magicians innings. An enterprising 127-run stand between Kate Ebrahim (94) and A. Mace-Cochrane (84) then led the Magicians to a solid position, before some late innings hitting from wicketkeeper L. Hughes (24* off 15) lifted the total to 308-7.

A. Rout was the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets, but the Spirit batters stole the spotlight. Chasing a big total, Spirit got off to a disaster start when J. Simmons removed Rout for a duck. Her opening partner was then run out, also for a duck, to reduce the side to 2-4. These wickets though brought Felicity Leydon-Davis and K. Anderson to the crease. Both brought up their centuries in their record third-wicket partnership of 308* to see their side home in an emphatic win. They chased the total down with six wickets to spare. Anderson top-scored with 160* off 131 deliveries, while Leydon-Davis scored 131* off 123.

 

Auckland Hearts will now face Central Hinds in the finals.