Kate Chandler headlines Wellington's resounding win; Central Hinds move to top of the table

Maiden five-wicket haul from 14-year-old Kate Chandler headlined Wellington Blaze’s resounding eight-wicket win over Canterbury Magicians in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday (December 19). It was Canterbury’s first defeat in the competition after winning four matches on the trot.



Chasing a target of 156, Blaze got off to a solid start with Rebecca Burns and Caitlin King sharing a 49-run stand for the opening wicket. Burns’ dismissal in the 15^th over- by Gabby Sullivan-brought King and Thamsyn Newton together and they took on the Magicians’ bowlers putting on a 100-run partnership from just 99 balls.



The pair was severe on in-form Sarah Asmussen with King, who was on 18 from 53 at one stage, smashing her for a six and a four in consecutive deliveries before Newton hit the leg-spinner for three boundaries in a row.



Newton brought up her fifty from 49 balls-with ten hits to the fence- as the Wellington side sped to their victory. Even though they lost the skipper with only three runs needing to win, King remained not out on 53 to take the side home in 32.1 overs.



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Earlier, having been put into bat, Magicians found themselves in trouble losing skipper Frances Mackay and Amy Satterthwaite, playing her first match of the season, with only 19 runs on the board. Kate Ebrahim, in the company of Emma Kench (20) and Natalie Cox (23), tried to steady the ship with a 67-ball 48.



However, Chandler- in her third List A match- struck twice in the 35^th over to remove Lea Tahuhu and the dangerous Ebrahim in the space of four balls to reduce Magicians to 117 for 6. The Canterbury side never recovered from there with the young leg-spinner bringing up her five-wicket haul in the 47^th over to skittle them out for 155 runs.



Chandler finished with figures of 5 for 41 from 9.1 overs, while Bethany Molony took two wickets.



At the Eden Park Outer Oval in Auckland, defending champions Auckland Hearts overcame Northern Districts by 12 runs in a thriller to secure their third consecutive win in the competition.



Put into bat, Hearts got off to a terrible start with opening bowlers Lucy Boucher and Kayley Knight removing skipper Lauren Down and Arlene Kelly inside the first five overs. From there, Anna Peterson and Katie Perkins put on 51 runs for the third wicket to take the score to 78 in the 16^th over.



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Once Peterson was dismissed, Hearts lost wickets at regular intervals with Lauren Heaps running through the batting line-up with a four-wicket haul. Perkins top-scored with a 45-run knock before she fell to Felicity Leydon-Davis. They were eventually dismissed for 138 in 33.3 overs.



Heaps was the most successful bowler for Northern Districts with a career-best List A figures of 4 for 34, while Leydon-Davis and Eimear Richardson took two wickets each.



In reply, Northern Districts looked to be on course for a win with Brooke Halliday and Kate Anderson taking the score to 80 for 2 in the 19^th over. But once Peterson dismissed in-form Halliday, they suffered a collapse and soon found themselves at 104 for 7 with the young slow-left arm of Fran Jonas accounting for Anderson.



Northern Districts eventually fell 12 runs short as they lost the last wicket in the 42^nd over with the score reading 126. Halliday was the top-scorer with 34 to her name, while Anderson made 33. The 16-year-old Jonas finished with her career-best List A figures of 4 for 41 from her 10 overs, while Anna Peterson and Jesse Prasad took two wickets each.



Elsewhere, Central Hinds rose to the top of the table with a convincing nine-wicket win over Otago Sparks in a rain-affected encounter at the University of Otago Oval in Dunedin.



Central Hinds moved to top of the table with their fourth win in HBJ Shield 2020 © Getty Images



Chasing a revised target of 135 in 25 overs after a long rain delay, Hinds started slowly with openers Natalie Dodd and Emily Cunningham taking their time. Only 13 runs came from the first five overs.



However, once the power play got over, Dodd took on Emma Black to smash her for four consecutive boundaries in the sixth over. The pair put on 95 runs from 19 overs before Cunningham was trapped in front by Eden Carson for 42. That brought about the arrival of Jess Watkin and the right-hander smashed an unbeaten 33 off just nine balls to take Hinds over the DLS target in 19 overs. Dodd gave her company with 5o runs from 56 balls.



Earlier, Caitlin Blakely’s 62 and her 53-run partnership with skipper Bella James helped Sparks to a total of 196 from 49.4 overs. At one stage, they were comfortably placed at 183 for 5 in 45 before Blakely’s dismissal sparked a collapse and the Otago side innings fell away adding only 13 more runs losing all the remaining wickets.



Hannah Rowe was the most successful bowler for Hinds, while Melissa Hansen and Mikaela Greig picked up two wickets each. The rain during the innings break saw the target being adjusted to 135 from 25 overs.



Brief Scores:



Canterbury Magicians 155/10 in 46.1 overs (Kate Ebrahim 48, Natalie Cox 23; Kate Chandler 5/41, Bethany Molony 2/25) lost to Wellington Blaze 156/2 in 32.1 overs (Thamsyn Newton 61, Caitlin King 53) by eight wickets.



Auckland Hearts 138/10 in 33.3 overs (Katie Perkins 45, Anna Peterson 32; Lauren Heaps 4/34, Felicity Leydon-Davis 2/16) beat Northern Districts 126/10 in 41.1 overs (Brooke Halliday 34, Kate Anderson 33; Fran Jonas 4/41, Jesse Prasad 2/15) by 12 runs.



Otago Sparks 196/10 in 49.4 overs (Caitlin Blakely 62, Bella James 30; Hannah Rowe 4/23, Mikaela Greig 2/29) lost to Central Hinds 135/1 in 19 overs (Natalie Dodd 50*, Emily Cunningham 42, Jess Watkin 33*) by nine wickets (DLS Method).