2023/24 HALLYBURTON JOHNSTONE SHIELD
Round 6
Sunday, 10 December 2023
Kennards Hire Community Oval, Auckland
WELLINGTON BLAZE beat AUCKLAND HEARTS by 9 wickets
Wellington Blaze : 5 points
Auckland Hearts: 0 points
SELECTED MILESTONES
Leigh Kasperek: five-wicket bag (10-3-16-5)
Defending champion Wellington Blaze made it two out of two against deposed leaders the Auckland Hearts as they completed a successful weekend in style.
Two big wins on the road, even with the Auckland Hearts winning the toss and electing to bat on Sunday.
The Hearts got a decent enough start from their opening pair with Saachi Shahri (35) and Anna Browning (23) putting together a 48-run stand at the top, but it was all downhill from there as the Blaze snaffled wickets too regularly for the host's liking.
Nicole Baird broke the opening stand with Browning's wicket at 48/1 (2/31) and was one of the Hearts' chief nemeses, taking two catches and effecting the runout of young Rishika Jaswal as well.
But the star of the innings was veteran spinner Leigh Kasperek, the captain helping herself to an outstanding haul of 5/16 off her 10 overs against the young Hearts line-up.
They crumbled to 129 all out inside 43 overs as a result, and that wasn't going to be enough to stop the Blaze unless there was a blue moon.
Jess McFadyen's unbeaten half ton at the top made sure of it, as the Blaze raced to victory, and another handy bonus point, in just 28 overs.
Hearts coaches Tarun Nethula and Rob Nicol watch on | MBUTCHER
