Girl Talk

Wet weather dampens Northern Spirits

Similar to the BLACKCAPS display, poor shot selection saw us in the recognisable position of 39 for 5. This was not the ideal start we had hoped for but luckily for us we can bat all the way down the order. Lower order batsmen Floss (Felicity Leydon-Davis) stood up for the Spirit and top scored with 22 off 26 balls. Good batting in the second 10 overs got us through to 89 for 9.

This was always going to be a tough total to defend but we were pumped right from the get go. A wicket in the first over got us in the game, however this brought about the experienced White Fern duo of Sara McGlashan and Rachael Priest and together they put the Hinds on target for a victory. However the Northern Spirit being the fighters that they are had another message to send and took the game right through to the last over thanks to tight bowling and impressive fielding! Reej (Rhiana Vincent) claimed the wickets of McGlashan and Priest in quick succession which gave us a sniff...but by then it was too late with 1 required off the last over. Even though it was a loss first up there was plenty of positives to take out of the game as the side put together stella bowling and fielding performances.

Saturday seemed to have come about rather quickly and we found ourselves in the field at Seddon Park first up. Tight bowling from the openers Nico (Nicola Browne) and Brooke Kirkbride saw us take two early wickets which was a great start to the day. Again this brought about the duo of McGlashan and Priest who were ever so patient at the crease. The bowlers continued to bowl tight lines and give them nothing. Play however was abandoned at 146 for 2 in 43 overs. Again the Spirit put in more good bowling and fielding performances.

Sunday was forecasted for heavy rain and the met service proved to be right on this occasion. The game did get underway but play stopped after 12 overs with the Spirit batting first. Like Friday we found ourselves in the similar situation at 4 for 12 off 6. To the crease this brought our cool heads of Nico and “Mornana what’s my name” (Morna Nielsen) who got themselves in and were starting to find some rhythm when the weather packed in leaving us at 36 for 4. 

Although the rain was the winner of the weekend there was plenty to take out of it in preparation for the next round in Wellington.

“Going down leg”

Legs 11