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Northern Spirit s Kate Anderson helped her side to a dramatic win over the Wellington Blaze. FILE PHOTO
A boundary off the final ball of the match by Meddy Hyde secured the Northern Spirit a dramatic victory over the Wellington Blaze in the Super Smash game at Bay Oval in Mt Maunganui on Friday. Hyde and diminutive batter Nensi Patel, who struck an important 25 runs off 18 balls before being run out with just 3 balls left, helped guide the Spirit to an upset win to end the defending champions’ unbeaten run in the T20 competition.
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Northern Knight coach Graeme Aldridge concedes his side was outclassed by a rampant Wellington Firebirds in their Super Smash Twenty/20 encounter in Mount Maunganui
Northern Knight coach Graeme Aldridge concedes his side was outclassed by a rampant Wellington Firebirds in their Super Smash Twenty/20 encounter in Mount Maunganui 2 January 2021
The visitors return to the top of the table after a nine wicket win chasing down the 148 run target with four overs to spare.
Aldridge says their bowlers couldn t contain Wellington batsmen Finn Allen and Rachim Ravindra.
This time Peterson saw it very well early, hitting nine fours and a six as she and Katie Perkins (25 off 24) added 74 off eight overs for the second wicket. Peterson was eventually stumped by White Fern Katey Martin in the 15th over as the Hearts posted a competitive but not unbeatable total. They needed early wickets and their White Ferns seamer Holly Huddleston provided, as the Sparks never got going without their sidelined allrounder Suzie Bates.
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Auckland Hearts bowler Holly Huddleston took crucial Otago wickets (file photo). Huddleston snared the two prized wickets of international team-mates Martin – who chopped on tamely second ball – and Hayley Jensen (12) who was caught by Perkins. Huddleston ended her four overs with figures of 2-17 while new ball partner Arlene Kelly mopped it up at the end, snaring 3-24.
Green and Kerr were also a key part of a collective bowling effort, claiming two wickets apiece as Thamsyn Newton led the way with 3-23. After being sent in by Wellington, the Central openers almost survived the first five overs before Kerr removed Jess Watkin for 12. The Blaze attack then turned the screws on their opponents, taking wickets at regular intervals with Natalie Dodd the only other batter to reach double figures, top-scoring with 20. We re setting the standard high for ourselves and we want to keep chasing that, pushing it up as much as we can, Newton told Spark Sport.
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