The Auckland Hearts have comfortably beaten the Canterbury Magicians by 29 runs in a low scoring Twenty20 match at Melville Park, Auckland.
After losing the toss and being put into the bat the Hearts looked fragile, crumbling to 67 for six before a late partnership of 60 between Samantha Barriball and Rachel Cox gave them a defendable total.
Barriball top scored with an unbeaten run-a-ball 30 with Cox contributing 25 from 21.
Canterbury opening bowler Lea-Marie Tahuhu returned the tidy figures of two for 22.
The Magicians made a disasterous start to their run chase, losing their first three wickets within two over and they weren’t able to recover.
Tight bowling by the Hearts didn’t allow the batsmen to settle and the build up of pressure meant wickets kept tumbling with the Magicians losing seven for 71 and eventually falling 29 runs short.
Strike bowlers Saskia Bullen and Natalie Scripps did most of the damage, removing the top order to finish with two for 18 and two for 15 respectively.
