New day, new ball game. After the upset yesterday, the Auckland Hearts came back out with a vengeance in Round Two against Northern Spirit.
ONE-DAY ROUND TWO — Northern Spirit 166/9 (Sam Curtis 59, Kerry Tomlinson 33 not out) lost to Auckland Hearts 167/3 in 34.1 overs (Victoria Lind 40, Katie Perkins 41 not out) by seven wickets at Cobham Oval, Whangarei on 27 November 2016
Scorecard
Dodd was captaining the home side while regular skipper Brooke Halliday dropped to 12th for the day, the hosts once again having opted to bat first — and bringing in 16-year-old Gisborne Girls’ High School student Tayla Hollis on debut.
At least there was a welcome reversal of fortunes for Dodd’s fellow opener Sam Curtis, who followed up yesterday’s duck on Spirit debut by anchoring with the top score of 59 as they scrabbled to 166/9 in their 50 overs.
Keeper-batsman Bernadine Bezuidenhout (16) had been run out off Sara McGlashan’s throw in the 31st over and, after Holly Huddleston ended Curtis’s important stay in the 37th over, two more runouts would make the job that much tougher for the chastened Northerners at the death.
Number six Kerry Tomlinson was left holding the fort, producing a valuable unbeaten 33 off 42 balls as wickets fell around her — Huddleston, Roz McNeill, Arlene Kelly and Bella Armstrong all returning a tidy set of figures for the Hearts.
In reply, the controlled duo of Lauren Down and captain Victoria Lind put on 43 for the first wicket, easing the pressure as they chased a middling total, albeit in fresh, gusting conditions.
At Down’s fall, the experienced McGlashan ensured the Hearts stayed well ahead of the required run rate, paving the way for fellow internationals Maddy Green and Katie Perkins (who top-scored with an unbeaten 41) to polish off the winning runs with more than 15 overs to spare.
The Spirit’s young medium-pacer Hollis, who has been a regular in the Pirates men’s team back home in Gisborne for two years, earlier gained her maiden wicket by bowling Hearts captain Lind on 40.
Northern must now brace themselves for Wellington Blaze at the same venue on the first weekend of December, while the Hearts head home to Melville Park to host the Central Hinds.
