Sparks blast into T20 final
THE Otago Sparks have blasted their way into the final of the twenty20 competition but needed a little help from Canterbury to get there.
The Sparks blew past Wellington to secure a comprehensive eightwicket win in the capital yesterday.
It was the big win the team needed to lift its net run rate and give itself a chance of sneaking into the T20 final.
But the Sparks still needed Canterbury to beat Auckland and their rival delivered, getting past Auckland’s total of 145 for seven on the last ball of the match.
But then Northern Districts threatened to spoil the party. It pummelled 182 for two and beat Central Districts by 39 runs. The win elevated Northern into a share of second place with Auckland and Otago. But despite its huge win its net run rate stayed below the other two teams and Otago slipped into the final where it will meet Canterbury.
The Sparks went to Wellington hoping for the best but felt they had a better chance of making the oneday final, coach Warren Lees said.
But the team created its own luck, ’’playing better than expected’’ against a weakened Wellington side missing Sophie Devine.
’’I know it is good to be in the final but we didn’t come here to make the twenty20 final; we came here to make the oneday final,’’ Lees said.
Otago will play Wellington in backtoback oneday matches this weekend and has a good chance of making that final. It will need Canterbury to deliver at least one more defeat to Auckland to get there.
‘‘’I’m glad we’re in this one because we might not get into the other one. But we have a chance and we want to make the most of that opportunity. It is pretty important.’’
Otago duo Leigh Kasperek and Suzie Bates teamed up to knock the top off the Wellington order. Bates struck first, remov ing Eimear Richardson before she could add to her solitary run.
Then Kasperek reduced the home side to 17 for three when she picked up the wickets of the experienced Rachel Priest for 12 and Suzie McDonald for three.
Wellington staged a mini revival through Fran Wilson (nine) and Liz Perry (33).
But Bates got Perry with two overs remaining to help restrict Wellington to 96 for seven.
Kasperek finished with three for 24 and Bates nabbed two for 15.
Bates then took the attack to Wellington to ensure the chase got off to a rapid start. She swatted 31 from 17 balls in a 46run opening stand with Caitlin Blakely, who made 25 before she was stumped.
Katey Martin continued her flush of recent runs with an undefeated innings of 35 from 32 balls.
There were 4.3 overs remaining when she hit the winning boundary.
Following that there was a nervous wait while the final scores of the other games came through. Phew.