Women stars in cricket action

Some of the country's leading women cricketers will be seen in action at Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton, from Thursday through until Saturday.

Three times over that period the Central Hinds will play the Auckland Hearts, the Friday fixture counting towards the national Twenty20 series and the Saturday and Sunday matches towards the national one-day competition.

Included in the Central Hinds squad are two players who have represented Wairarapa in recent seasons, Eimear Richardson and Esther Lang, both of whom are in the all-rounder category.

The Central Hinds have just completed a similar three days of action against the Wellington Blaze, the first two days of which produced what could best be described as mixed results.

The Twenty20 match saw the Hinds bat first and they struggled to master an accurate Blaze attack, being all out for 104.

Major contributors to that total were two of their top batswomen in Rachel Priest, who made 34, and Kate Broadmore, who made 30.

New Zealand hockey and cricket rep Sophie Devine dominated proceedings when Blaze batted, racing to 71 not out off just 45 balls. She smashed three sixes and 10 fours. Best of the Hinds bowlers was another who has played for the White Ferns in Abby Burrows, who took 2-18 off her four overs.

The opening one-day fixture saw a complete reversal of form, with the Hinds reaching an impressive 226-4 and then dismissing Blaze for a paltry 79, to give them a win by 147 runs.

Richardson (39) and White Fern Sara McGlashan (38) gave the Hinds' innings a flying start, and then Priest and Broadmore again demonstrated their considerable batting skills, Priest top scoring with 65 and Broadmore making 50.

Under the expert stewardship of groundsman Andy May, the Queen Elizabeth Park Oval pitch is expected to provide excellent batting conditions for the three-day game. It was tested for the first time in the Wairarapa v Wanganui senior men's match a couple of weeks back and came through with flying colours. The Twenty20 match will start at 2.30pm, with both one-dayers getting under way at 10.30am.