CRICKET - Northern recover fighting spirit

The Northern Spirit were finally able to summon up a win for their departing captain Louise Milliken by defeating the Auckland Hearts in the final match of an exciting weekend of cricket at Cobham Oval.
After final-over losses in the two previous matches, it was a measure of the high regard in which Milliken is held that they took no prisoners, winning the third match yesterday with eight overs to spare.
The Spirit chased down the 161 set by the Hearts, thanks largely to a half-century by opener Kate Pulford and Nicola Browne (39 not out), who scored the winning runs with a big six just minutes after Milliken had joined her at the wicket.
The six-wicket win went a long way to rescuing the weekend after they lost their concentration on Saturday and let the Hearts off the hook in the first 50-over match.
The Spirit had delivered a huge effort in the field to have the Hearts in all sorts of trouble at 87/9, chasing 144 for the win, but took the foot off the Aucklanders' throats and allowed Katie Perkins to guide her team to a dramatic one-wicket win. A series of errors in the field and some poor bowling ruined the Spirits' chances.
Perkins hit an unbeaten 53 off 81 balls as she nursed the Auckland tail through to victory in the final over, forging a 57-run partnership for the last wicket with number-11 batsman Natalee Scripps, who scored 23 not out.
Batting first, the Spirit posted only 143, with Milliken top-scoring with 37 in two sessions at the wicket after retiring hurt earlier in the innings after aggravating an old knee injury.
She returned to the wicket to compile a final wicket partnership of 22 with Whangarei No11 Emily Bailey in what might have been a vital partnership had not the chase by Auckland been ultimately so successful.
The Spirit threw everything at their opposition in the first half of the chase with White Fern Pulford leading with three for 21 off her 10 overs, while Browne and Natalie Edwards took two wickets apiece.
The result allowed Auckland to draw level on points with Northern on the State League table, but yesterday's result pushed the Spirit back in front.
The result gave the Spirit a sense of deja vu after losing Friday night's Twenty20 match against the Hearts in similar fashion, with the visitors scoring the winning runs with one ball to spare.
Batting first, Northern posted 141 largely thanks to Pulford who cracked 83 off 62, including nine fours. A 97-run partnership for the second wicket between Victoria Lind (60) and Megan Murphy (51) set up a successful three-wicket win for Auckland.