Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
When 19-year-old WHITE FERN Georgia Plimmer smoked 147 off 139 balls for the Wellington Blaze in New Zealand’s first ever day/night Hallyburton Johnstone Shield match on Saturday, she fell just 16 runs shy of smashing Sophie Devine’s Blaze record of 162 not out – and landed among the top 14 all-time best performances in the competition’s all-time history (all teams).
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When Auckland Hearts captain Maddy Green walked off Kennards Hire Community Oval after two unbeaten captain’s knocks in back-to-back victories against the Central Hinds, you couldn’t escape the feeling that the defending champion Blaze’s loss was Hearts’ gain as her team held onto top spot on the ladder, heading towards the halfway-mark rounds on 9 and 10 December when they will be facing the defending champs in two big contests at the same ground.
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When Sparks spinner Eden Carson twirled to 3/17 and 3/36 with typically tight-fisted parsimony, she had the Canterbury Magicians in a spin as the two southernmost teams split the spoils from their two matches in Rangiora this weekend.
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All good signs for the WHITE FERNS who are revving up to host Pakistan from Sunday, 3 December in three T20 Internationals followed by three ODIs.
Green is drawing close to overtaking Lauren Down as the Auckland Hearts’ fifth highest all-time run-scorer in their List A one-day record books.
She fended off a strong fight with the ball from her namesake, Hinds swing bowler Claudia Green (who captured a maiden bag with a haul of 5/30) to push the Hearts six points clear of the Otago Sparks on the table after four rounds of the national one-day competition.
Northern Districts bounced back to take their first win of the season off the Blaze on Sunday, getting liftoff from the bottom of the table and overtaking the Hinds and Magicians in the process with a bonus point victory.
Meanwhile, the dangerous Wellingtonians currently lurk in third spot – just one point behind the Sparks. And they’re still floating on air after Plimmer and Leigh Kasperek’s double century stand that set a new all wickets record for the team, Plimmer’s century her maiden fifty, let alone hundred, in List A cricket.
The Hinds had headed into the weekend in second spot and in contention for the outright lead, but have plummeted to the ground floor of the table, with the Canterbury Magicians, both on six points.
With four of the 10 regular season rounds in the bag, it’s still anybody’s game ahead of the big, mid-way rounds coming up at Bay Oval, Mt Maunganui; Queen’s Park, Invercargill and Auckland’s Kennards Hire Community Oval in a fortnight’s time.
Said (Maddy) Green, “It’s a bit of a shame I probably won’t be there with the Hearts to play the Wellington Blaze [with WHITE FERNS commitments], but obviously Wellington are a really strong side, defending champions who know how to win games of cricket.
Leading Run-Scorers After Four Rounds
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Mikaela Greig (Central Hinds) 232
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Georgia Plimmer (Wellington Blaze) 186
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Maddy Green (Auckland Hearts) 168
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Georgia Atkinson (Central Hinds) 159
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Felicity Robertson (née Leydon-Davis, Otago Sparks) 140
Leading Wicket-Takers After Four Rounds
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Claudia Green (Central Hinds – swing) 10
Eden Carson (Otago Sparks – off-spin) 10
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Emma Black (Otago Sparks – pace) 9
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Gabby Sullivan (Canterbury Magicians – pace) 8
Sarah Asmussen (Canterbury Magicians – leg-spin) 8
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Hannah Rowe (Central Hinds – pace) 7
Natasha Codyre (Wellington Blaze – pace) 7
