An opening stand worth 126 from Lucy Doolan and Renee Moffitt has led the Wellington Blaze to a 48 run victory over the Auckland Hearts at Melville Park, Auckland.
It didn’t stop the Hearts from a home final and wouldn’t be enough to get Wellington into second, but it was a big win against a team which has dominated the competition.
Doolan (77) and Moffitt (59) gave their Blaze side a wonderful start to the innings, before Moffitt fell in the 26th over. Doolan continued to tinker along, but wickets began to come thick and fast,
The run-rate slowed right down and at the end of 50 overs the Blaze finished 188 for nine – a total they would have been slightly disappointed with considering their start.
Arlene Kelly was the most prominent with the ball for the Hearts, collecting four wickets in her nine overs for 34 runs.
In reply though the home side only had two players make double figures, as the Hearts were rolled for 140 in 39.1 overs.
Sam Curtis kept up her great form of late with 64 from 108 and found a partner in Katie Perkins who scored 29 from 53. After that, there was very little else.
It was a team effort with the ball from the Blaze, with all six bowlers amongst the wickets.
The Blaze finish in third on the table, while Auckland remain eight points clear at the top on 35. They’ll meet the Canterbury Magicians in the final next weekend.
