We have found our two best teams in the ongoing edition of the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield. Auckland Hearts led by skipper Maddy Green and Otago Sparks led by skipper Felicity Leydon-Davis have out-performed most of the sides in the tournament with their impressive performances throughout the league stages of the tournament.
The Felicity Leydon-Davis-led side finished the league stages at the top of the points table with 45 points, which included 9 bonus points, along with 9 victories and a solitary defeat against the Auckland Hearts by 24 runs, earlier in the tournament. Auckland Hearts led by skipper Maddy Green, on the other hand, finished 2nd on the points table with 26 points from 10 games which included six victories and four defeats with a couple of bonus points.
As a result of their top two finish, both these sides, the Otago Sparks and Auckland Hearts will be up against each other in the grand finale for the title clash on 1st March 2025 (Saturday) from 3:00 AM IST at the University of Otago Oval, Dunedin. A total of six teams, Auckland Hearts, Canterbury Magicians, Central Hinds, Northern Districts, Otago Sparks and Wellington Blaze participated in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
Northern Districts led by skipper Jess Watkin and Canterbury Magicians led by skipper Laura Hughes both had disappointing campaigns, finishing 6th with 12 points and 5th position with 14 points respectively on the points table with just three victories under their belt in the league stages of the tournament.
Central Hinds led by skipper Mikaela Greig and Wellington Blaze led by skipper Rebecca Burns finished 3rd with 24 points from 10 games including five victories and as many defeats in the league stages. As far as the Blaze are concerned, they finished 4th on the points table with 17 points from 10 games including 4 victories and a bonus point to their name in the league stages of the ongoing edition of the HJS.
Auckland Hearts’ skipper Maddy Green is the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 572 runs to her name in the tournament so far, with a big game to go for her side on 1st March 2025.
The Otago Sparks spinner Eden Carson is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 20 wickets alongside Ocean Bartlett from the Central Hinds. Eden Carson still has a game to go on 1st March 2025 (Saturday) to add to her tally of wickets in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
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