The tail of a huge rainstorm that swept the upper North Island yesterday saw today’s Pride Round matches between Northern Brave women and Wellington Blaze, and Northern Brave men and the Wellington Firebirds, washed out in Hamilton.It’s the first time in two years that the Blaze haven’t piled into their team van at the end of a game with that winning buzz, but two points for a washout was still enough to push the standout performers clear of the field.
Blaze is now on 34 points, leaving the Canterbury Magicians (24 points, with 8 points left to play for) and the dangerous Otago Sparks (14 points, with 12 points left to play for) to slug it out for the second qualifier spot that will secure home advantage for an Elimination Final. The Hearts meanwhile have a tenuous grip on third on 19 points, with just four points left to play for – and one eye on how the Sparks fare.
They have already split the points with Brave for Monday’s abandoned fixtures that were due to be played in Auckland. The curve ball of the rainstorm has done nothing to ease tensions on a tight men’s table, just four points separating the top five teams as they head into the crunchy end of the competition.
The Auckland Aces are now playing for pride this season, too far behind the field, while Northern Brave’s men (the defending champion) and the Wellington Firebirds have just one game left with which to make their move.
The Canterbury Kings are the new men’s leader after having comfortably beaten the Stags at Hagley Oval yesterday, but the Brave and Stags are just two points behind the Kings (with four points available per win), while the Otago Volts are the dark horse that could gallop into the top slot – with a whole three matches left to go for the southerners.
The top qualifier in the men’s and women’s league proceeds direct to the 11 February Grand Final, while the second and third placed teams after the 10 rounds of the regular season head to the Elimination Final, conducted two days earlier on Thursday, 9 February.
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