The Wellington Blaze made it four from four in the Twenty20 Action Cricket competition, calmly accounting for the Northern Spirit for the second time in three days.
Playing in Upper Hutt, the Spirit won the toss and decided to bat. They would have been questioning that decision early on as they found themselves three down for just 12 runs in the seventh over. They never really recovered, Nicola Browne the only one holding the innings together for Northern with 32.
The loss of regular wickets really made an impact on the Spirit’s final total of 72 for eight. It was an extremely disappointing show of batting for the away team, with only two players making double figures.
The Blaze bowlers put on a fine display, but Sian Ruck stole the show, with her four overs going for just eight runs and also picked up two wickets.
The Blaze came out and played sensibly in their run chase. Lucy Doolan was dismissed early for a duck, but Megan Wakefield and Sarah Taylor had Wellington well on their way to victory as they put on 40 for the second wicket.
When Taylor fell, Elizabeth Perry came in and along with Wakefield guided the Blaze to victory with five balls and eight wickets to spare.
It was always going to be tough for the Northern bowlers with such a low total to defend, but while they were economic, they weren’t able to break partnerships frequently enough.
