Wellington Blaze versus the Canterbury Magicians for the 2023 Hallyburton Johnstone Shield. Two of the strongest teams will clash in Queenstown this Saturday for New Zealand's national one-day title.
The Blaze also qualified for this season's Dream11 Super Smash national final, in which they were defeated for the trophy by the Magicians - setting up a spicy rematch.
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The Wellingtonians are also out to make up for the disappointment of losing last year's trophy match at the same venue to the Otago Sparks, while a huge driver for the Canterbury Magicians is that this Saturday will be Amy Satterthwaite's final, final, final appearance and they're determined to see off their legend in style.
Wellington Blaze heads into the HBJ Final, to be livestreamed at NZC.nz and on NZC YouTube from 10.30am this Saturday 4 March, as the official top qualifier, having taken six wins from their 10 games in the regular season - and consider that three of those other games were abandoned.
Impressively, they won five of those six wins with a bonus point, while the Magicians finished in clear second spot with five wins, three of those with bonus points, and two washouts unable to hold them back.
Head to Head this season
• ROUND ONE 19 November 2022 in Rangiora: match abandoned without a ball bowled
• ROUND TWO 20 November 2022 in Rangiora: Wellington Blaze 178/9 - match reduced to 44 overs by weather beat Canterbury Magicians 51 all out (19.2 overs) by 127 runs
Top runscorers
Canterbury Magicians:
Amy Satterthwaite 340 runs from 6 innings at 85.00, 1 x 100, 2 x 50
Kate Anderson 306 runs from 8 innings at 43.71, 1 x 100, 2 x 50
Nat Cox 200 runs from 8 innings at 28.57, 1 x 50
Wellington Blaze:
Leigh Kasperek 250 runs from 7 innings at 41.67, 2 x 50
Rebecca Burns 230 runs from 7 innings at 32.86, 2 x 50
Jess McFadyen 192 runs from 6 innings at 38.40, 1 x 50
Overall this season:
Kate Ebrahim (Otago Sparks) 588 runs from 9 innings at 98.00, 2 x 100, 4 x 50
Jess Watkin (Central Hinds) 346 runs from 9 innings at 43.25, 4 x 50
Katie Perkins (Auckland Hearts) 343 runs from 6 innings at 68.60, 1 x 100, 3 x 50
Top bowlers
Canterbury Magicians:
Gabby Sullivan 17 wickets from 9 innings at 15.41, 1 x 4wi
Sarah Asmussen 14 wickets from 7 innings at 19.43, 1 x 5wi
Lea Tahuhu 12 wickets from 5 innings at 11.50, 1 x 5wi
Wellington Blaze:
Leigh Kasperek 16 wickets from 8 innings at 13.19
Xara Jetly 11 wickets from 8 innings at 14.91, 1 x 4wi
Nicole Baird 9 wickets from 8 innings at 24.00
Overall this season:
Gabby Sullivan 17 wickets from 9 innings at 15.41, 1 x 4wi
Leigh Kasperek 16 wickets from 8 innings at 13.19
Sarah Asmussen 14 wickets from 7 innings at 19.43, 1 x 5wi, 1 x 4wi
Jess Watkin (Central Hinds) 13 wickets from 9 innings at 22.85
Caitlin Blakely (Otago Sparks) 12 wickets from 6 innings at 21.83, 2 x 4wi
Best performances
Canterbury Magicians:
Lea Tahuhu 5/24 v Auckland Hearts in Auckland
Sarah Asmussen 5/36 v Wellington Blaze in Christchurch & 4/42 v Otago Sparks in Queenstown
Gabby Sullivan 4/31 v Wellington Blaze in Rangiora
Kate Anderson 141 not out off 120 balls v Central Hinds in Christchurch
Amy Satterthwaite 103 not out off 115 balls v Central Hinds in Christchurch
Wellington Blaze:
Xara Jetly 4/37 v Auckland Hearts in Wellington
Caitlin King 3/1 v Canterbury Magicians in Rangiora
Jess McFadyen 96 not out off 101 balls v Central Hinds in Palmerston North
Leigh Kasperek 87 off 76 balls v Auckland Hearts in Wellington
Overall this season:
Caitlin Gurrey (Northern Districts) 183 off 145 balls v Central Hinds in Mt Maunganui
Kate Anderson (Canterbury Magicians) 141 not out off 120 balls v Central Hinds in Christchurch
Katie Perkins (Auckland Hearts) 113 not out off 123 balls v Otago Sparks in Dunedin
Kate Ebrahim (Otago Sparks) 106 not out off 140 balls v Canterbury Magicians in Queenstown
Amy Satterthwaite (Canterbury Magicians) 103 not out off 115 balls v Central Hinds in Christchurch
Bernadine Bezuidenhout (Northern Districts) 101 off 95 balls v Otago Sparks in Whangarei
Bella James (Otago Sparks) 101 off 120 balls v Central Hinds in Nelson
Kate Ebrahim (Otago Sparks) 100 not out off 150 balls v Northern Districts in Whangarei
Lea Tahuhu (Canterbury Magicians) 5/24 v Auckland Hearts in Auckland
Sarah Asmussen (Canterbury Magicians) 5/36 v Wellington Blaze in Christchurch & 4/42 v Otago Sparks in Queenstown
Gabby Sullivan (Canterbury Magicians) 4/31 v Wellington Blaze in Rangiora
Xara Jetly (Wellington Blaze) 4/37 v Auckland Hearts in Wellington
Lucy Boucher (Northern Districts) 4/39 v Central Hinds in Mt Maunganui
Laura Hughes (Canterbury Magicians) four dismissals in an innings v Auckland Hearts in Auckland
Sam Curtis (Northern Districts) 3 catches in an innings v Canterbury in Rangiora
Ashtuti Kumar (Central Hinds) 3 catches in an innings v Northern Districts in Mt Maunganui
Highest team totals:
Northern Districts 318/7 v Central Hinds in Mt Maunganui
Canterbury Magicians 317/5 v Otago Sparks in Queenstown
Northern Districts 308/4 v Otago Sparks in Whangarei
Auckland Hearts 308/5 v Otago Sparks in Dunedin
Wellington Blaze 303/5 v Auckland Hearts in Wellington
Auckland Hearts 300/7 v Otago Sparks in Dunedin
HBJ Final recent history
2021/22 Otago Sparks beat Wellington Blaze at John Davies Oval, Queenstown
2020/21 Canterbury Magicians beat Auckland Hearts at Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland
2019/20 Auckland Hearts beat Northern Spirit at Seddon Park, Hamilton
2018/19 Central Hinds beat Auckland Hearts at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth
2017/18 Auckland Hearts - no Final, finished top of table, Wellington Blaze second
2016/17 Canterbury Magicians beat Canterbury Magicians at Hagley Oval, Christchurch
2015/16 Auckland Hearts beat Wellington Blaze at Melville Park, Auckland
2014/15 Auckland Hearts beat Canterbury Magicians at Mainpower Oval, Rangiora
