Sophie Devine and the Wellington Blaze have put on an incredible display of batting to beat the Northern Spirit by 60 runs at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui.
Behind an explosive 137 not out from captain Sophie Devine, the Blaze posted 322 for four from 50 overs, before holding the Spirit to 262 for five in a spirited attempt.
Natalie Dodd and Anna Peterson (51) put on a whopping 127 for the second wicket to get the Spirit’s pursuit of to a great start.
Having scored her half-century Peterson went in the 30th over to leave the Spirit 18 for two. Dodd though was in outstanding form and went on to make a splendid century. The talented opener found the boundary 13 times on the way to 113 not out, but needed more help from the other end.
Despite 36 from Kerry-Anne Tomlinson, the Spirit would fall short giving the Blaze a 58 run victory.
Earlier Devine had launched off in an innings which featured a whopping ten sixes and nine fours and came off just 73 balls.
A solid 65 from Lucy Doolan and 61 from Asha Smith were helpful, but were completely overshadowed by an innings of sheer power from their skipper.
Devine took apart the Spirit bowling attack with some incredible power and led the Blaze to become the first team of the 2012/13 season to surpass 300.
She remained unbeaten at the end of the 50 overs, having brought up her second century of the season.
