2022/23 HALLYBURTON JOHNSTONE SHIELD
Round 8
Sunday, 19 February 2023
Hutt Recreation Ground, Lower Hutt
WELLINGTON BLAZE beat NORTHERN DISTRICTS by 154 runs
Bonus point win
Selected milestones
Caitlin King, career best score
Natasha Codyre, career best bowling figures
Caitlin King | PHOTOSPORT
Wellington Blaze began the eighth round needing just one more win to become the first team to snare a berth in the 2023 Hallyburton Johnstone Shield Grand Final - in which they were beaten finalists last season, in Queenstown.
They locked it in with style.
After the previous day's 19-run victory, this time they dominated Northern Districts with a 154-run triumph, which equalled their eighth biggest ever HBJ win by runs margin.
Captain Leigh Kasperek won the toss and batted, with all the top four getting strong starts - herself included.
Jess McFadyen (40 off 49) and Rebecca Burns (32 off 50) got the ball rolling with an 86-run opening stand before Charlotte Sarsfield broke through in the 17th over.
McFadyen followed shortly after, but that didn't ease the task for ND as Caitlin King (a career-best 77) and Kasperek settled in together to clock up a 143-run stand for the third wicket before young Tash Wakelin went bang-bang to get them both in the hutch.
The pair had stayed put until well past the 40-over mark, taking their side to 233/3.
Everything after that was icing on the cake for the hosts, despite a late rally by the ND attack that saw spinner Nensi Patel rip out 4/58.
PHOTOSPORT
Blaze still saw out their 50 overs and finished on 277/8, a fair chase for Northern.
Northern suffered a horror start in reply with captain Sam Barriball dismissed for no score at the top, off just the second ball of the chase.
Young Natasha Codyre had opened the attack and she was on fire, tearing to 3/24 off her opening spell to have ND 44/4 after 11 overs.
Experienced spinners Kasperek (3-26) and Dee Doughty (1-23) then kept turning the screws, and ND would finish with just two partnerships higher than 20 runs.
They were bowled out for 123 in just the 33rd over, the Blaze taking a bonus point for their trouble.
