It was a battle of the top of the table in the Women’s Action Cricket Twenty20 competition.
Defending champions the Canterbury Magicians have given their title chances a massive boost as they claimed a comfortable eight wicket win over the Wellington Blaze.
Wellington were confident of posting a large total and opted to bat after winning the toss, but didn’t finish with a score they would have been happy with.
Batsmen Lucy Doolan and Elizabeth Perry have been outstanding for the Blaze this season, but both were dismissed needlessly as they were both run out thanks to some slick fielding by the Magicians.
Sarah Taylor took the reins for the visiting team and contributed an unbeaten 33. Many of the other batsmen made starts, but the bowling from the home side was just too tight and the Blaze were restricted to 101 for six.
Canterbury have chased down every total they have been set so far this summer and from the outset it didn’t look like today would be any different.
Frances Mackay (25) and Janet Brehaut (28) showed their class once again and put their team in a strong position. Mackay was the first to go, but was replaced by Captain Amy Satterthwaite who led her team to an eight wicket victory with a score of 37 not out.
It was a convincing victory from the champions who still had over three overs to spare. It wasn’t the revenge that Wellington would have been hoping for, as they now concentrate on making it to the finals.
