After a challenging week with Cyclone Gabrielle, it was great to see the Wellington Blaze and Northern Districts women's cricket teams go head to head at Hutt Rec  in round 7 and 8 of the Hallyburton Johnston Shield.
Mexted Sports Turf’s groundsmen Kevin Wakefield and John McKessar had covered the wicket ahead of the storm, and when the covers came off on Friday were relieved to find the wicket still in very good shape. After rolling, marking and mowing the outfield, the covers went back on until Saturday morning, which dawned sunny and calm.
Kevin and John were kept busy during the match rolling between innings and were delighted with how well the wicket played in the first professional senior women’s cricket match to be played at Hutt Rec since 1990.
Alex Geenty from Cricket Wellington said the wicket played really well. "There were plenty of runs in it and it had pace and bounce that was in excess of what you'd expect from a club-level pitch."
Wellington Blaze took a convincing 154 run win over Northern Districts, in what was the first professional senior women's cricket match to be played at Hutt Rec since 1990, seeing them through to the HBJ final in Queenstown on 4 March.

​It was all hands to the pump at Sky Stadium after the incredible Ed Sheeran concert in Wellington in February, which drew a record 48,000 crowd.
10,000 square metres of turf had to be removed and replaced, where temporary flooring had been put down for Ed’s stage, vehicles and equipment.
A big team from Mexteds was on site on Waitangi Day to begin taking off the top 90mm of turf with three diggers operating. We then spread 864 tonnes of sand and power-harrowed it in to the existing sand layer to blend it together, before compacting the surface and then grading it to within 2 or 3mm using our Fendt 512 tractor fitted out with a box grader, controlled by our Leica Total Station, ready for laying new turf from Turflands in Palmerston North.
The following week HG Turf Group and a small team from Mexteds began the turf rollout and by the weekend the Stadium was sorted, ready for a busy calendar of sport in March.