Central Districts strengthened with locals

Anna Gaging will join her sister Kate in the Central Districts Hinds as the team looks to bounce back from a last ball Dream 11 Super Smash Grand Finals loss.

With Claudia Green also in the side, three local women now represent the region in the squad as they crack into back-to-back one-dayers as the national one-day Hallyburton Johnstone Shield reignites with the last four rounds of the regular season.

Only the top two teams will progress to the 25 February national Final, so the Hinds have four big games (in Wellington and New Plymouth) to get themselves back to the right end of the table — currently just four points behind Northern Districts and the Auckland Hearts who sit in joint second, with a maximum of five points available per round for a bonus point win.

T20 champions the Blaze are leading the HBJ as the only side to have snaffled four wins from the pre-Christmas rounds so if the Hinds, who have had two wins and two washouts, can take a win or two off their adversaries at the Basin this weekend, they stand a great chance of roaring up the table when it counts.

Saturday’s match will also see the Viv Stephens Memorial Trophy go back on the line, contested by these two teams annually in their first one-day fixture each season.

The Hinds won the treasured trophy commemorating the team’s first captain last summer in Palmerston North, after a washout in Wellington saw the teams share the silverware the previous season.

With strong winds and a few showers anticipated, the teams will be hoping the weather plays ball for a full contest on Saturday as Anna will look to use her pace as she steps into the Hinds squad for the first time since February 2021.

While Kerry Tomlinson remains sidelined by a shoulder fracture and Thamysn Newton is unavailable, an otherwise strong squad ready to rumble at the Cello Basin Reserve, with a 10.30am start time on Saturday, 10am on Sunday and livescoring with a free livestream for both games at www.cdcricket.co.nz