ROUND FOUR
Central Hinds vs Wellington Blaze - no result (washed out)
Karori Park, Wellington,1 December 2019
NATIONAL RECORD FALLS AT KARORI PARK
• Central Hinds Jess Watkin and Natalie Dodd smash landmark opening stand• Watkin smashes career-best 158 in maiden century• Watkin's innings the seventh highest all-time in Hallyburton Johnstone Shield• Meanwhile, Spirit's win sets up top-of-the-table clash next weekend against defending champion Hinds
Jess Watkin's powerhouse 158 off 124 balls and opening partner Natalie Dodd's anchoring 75 in this afternoon's Hallyburton Johnstone Shield has seen the Central Hinds pair smash the opening wicket partnership record for New Zealand women's List A cricket.*
Incredible knock! JESS WATKIN 1ï¸âƒ£5ï¸âƒ£8ï¸âƒ£ off 124 balls at Karori Park this afternoon #HBJShield #CentralHinds #SmashingBoundaries 💥 pic.twitter.com/sIdf85dexR
— Central Districts Cricket Association🏏 (@CDCricket) December 1, 2019
Erstwhile WHITE FERNS Watkin and Dodd poured on 216 for the first wicket against Wellington Blaze at Karori Park, eclipsing a national mark of 199 that had been held by Otago Sparks duo Paula Flannery and Elizabeth Scurr against the Auckland Hearts at Queenstown since 2004/05.
Whanganui-based Watkin's innings was the second highest individual score in the Central Hinds' 40-year history, caught just 11 runs shy of equalling captain Anlo van Deventer's unbeaten 169*, set earlier this year in Palmerston North.
Dodd was also in the thick of the statchat on that occasion, piling on a national record 328 for the second wicket with van Deventer in a breakthrough 2019/19 season for the Hinds.
At an overcast Karori Park today, Watkin and Dodd batted for 35 overs of a match reduced to a 40-over affair by rain early in the innings. Consistent run machine Dodd was the first to eventually depart when she was bowled by Deanna Doughty after two and a quarter hours of frustration for the Wellington Blaze attack.
The pair underpinned a Hinds total of 260 for three in their 40 overs, but their mammoth effort was in vain when rain returned early in the Blaze's chase, the match washed out and both sides sharing the points.
Defending champions the Central Hinds remain top of the table, the only unbeaten side after four rounds of the national one-day competition but a second win to Northern Spirit in Dunedin has seen their lead narrowed to a single point. The two sides will meet next weekend in a top-of-the-table clash at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui.
