Wins to defending champion the Wellington Blaze, Auckland Hearts and Otago Sparks in today's seventh round of the women's one-day national championship has put the heat on the chasing pack in tomorrow's eighth of 10 regular season rounds – to be played at Wellington's Cello Basin Reserve (Blaze v Central Hinds, 10am), Dunedin's University of Otago Oval (10.30am, Sparks v Northern Districts) and Christchurch's Hagley Oval (a day/night match from 2PM, Canterbury Magicians v Hearts).
After a rematch between the Dream11 Super Smash Grand Finalists, the barnstorming Blaze remains top of the one-day table after a tight DLS win over the Hinds on Saturday, Central having been chasing 32 off the last 20 balls for victory before rain arrived to cut the match short and confer a 13-run DLS victory for the Blaze.
Meanwhile, the Hearts leapt from third into second spot after closing out a 14-run win away over the Canterbury Magicians. The Hearts set a strong total of 242/7 batting first in a reduced 41-over match thanks a century on Hearts one-day debut for WHITE FERN and former ND rep Brooke Halliday, in a 127-run third wicket stand with Saachi Shahri.
Despite a 136-run second wicket stand in reply from Kate Anderson (82) and Frankie Mackay (61), the bottom of the ladder Magicians couldn't get across the line, and can now reach a maximum of just 21 points - with the Hearts able to formally bump them out tomorrow.
The heat is also on the Hinds who now need a strong run through their last three games, starting with tomorrow's rematch with the Blaze where a loss could likewise bump them out of contention, depending on other results.
Northern Districts sits four points above the Hinds and will also be eager to turn the tables on the Sparks tomorrow, after Otago snaffled a bonus point, five-wicket win against ND today, with 4/21 from pace star Emma Black.
An Northern win tomorrow would potentially move them back up into the top two, after both the Hearts and the Sparks went above them in today's round.
At the end of 10 rounds, only the top two sides will progress to the national final on 25 February, with the top qualifier earning the right to host.
A bonus point win is worth five points, and a regular win is worth four points. Should teams finish on equal points, the first separator is the number of wins, followed by number of bonus points.
All matches are livestreamed at www.nzc.nz, on the NZC app, and on NZC YouTube; and livescored at www.nzc.nz and the NZC app.
