CD Hinds v Otago Sparks
Hastings
It'll take something special to stop the Otago Sparks from cruising to a 3-0, round-three victory in Hastings tomorrow.
The Suzie Bates-led Sparks thumped the Central Districts Hinds by 116 runs in the first limited-overs match today at Cornwall Park on the heels of a nine-wicket Twenty/20 victory yesterday in the Action Sports series.
No 4 Katey Martin top scored with 69 runs from 116 balls as the other Sparks batsmen around her got starts but didn't occupy the crease with much stickability.
No 6 Victoria Abbott made 29 (64) while opener ex-White Fern Sarah Tsukigawa contributed 25 to the Sparks' challenging but gettable total of 213-8 after the visitors won the toss and padded up.
CD left-armer Maneka Singh took 3-35 from seven overs, including a maiden, while Sonya Thompson, showing balance and rhythm in her action, took a tidy 2-42 from 10 overs.
Kate Broadmore, brushing aside her knee injury from yesterday, claimed 2-36 from 10, including a maiden.
Veteran Abby Burrows took 1-38 from 7.5 overs, including a maiden.
However, Irish international Eimear Richardson was the most frugal with 25-1 from 10 overs with her offspins.
The crucial wicket of Martin came freakishly from a Burrows' delivery, soon after the White Fern hit three consecutive boundaries and a two of her over.
Burrows put her left hand out to stop another full shot but it deflected off her hand and found Singh's hands at deep mid off for the dismissal.
The bowler went to hospital for a suspected dislocated finger but returned with her arm in a sling although no one in the camp could give a clear answer as to whether she was playing today.
"She's had a test today but she'll know the result next week," CD skipper Rachel Priest said after Kate Baxter finished her last ball although it was a debatable decision to bring Burrows back into the fray when Singh was already tightening the noose at one end and Broadmore at the other.
In their run chase, CD were in early trouble when Bates trapped opener Richardson lbw for a duck and removed rookie Sarah Cowan for three runs not long after.
No 3 Sara McGlashan and No 4 Priest looked like settling in for the long haul but Bates uprooted the captain's stump for 30 before Emma Campbell had top scorer McGlashan back in the changing rooms for 31 runs after Broadmore came and went.
Kelly Rangi and Thompson had a golden opportunity to rise to the occasion with more than half a game to go but Thompson was stumped.
Then Rangi needlessly ran out Sandee Hui for a duck before playing a poor shot to Campbell to self-destruct to be caught and bowled although Hui should have sent her back in the suicidal run.
An opportune time for middle and lower-order batsmen to occupy the crease to show their batting depth, as the CD Stags men have shown this summer, went begging as the Hinds stuttered to 96-9 with Burrows hurt and Singh stranded 1 not out.
Agreeing it was a comfortable win in the end, Lees said there were moments when Otago didn't have control of the game.
"I think both teams have top players who are White Ferns and they expect a lot out of them.
"We were lucky that Katey Martin had a fantastic game and it certainly proved to be the difference between the two teams on the day," Lees said, adding she was in full cry and a great finisher in their team.
Her value in the middle order was beginning to help their team.
The White Fern's batting, he felt, carried on to her wicketkeeping where her two stumpings sealed the game for the Sparks.
"We know CD will be back tomorrow with their A team, don't you worry about that."
Emma Campbell's four wickets, after a year off like Sarah Tsukigawa, to mop up the tail while Bates knocked the top order off with three key scalps.
"Emma's a very good legspin bowler and offers very few loose balls. Probably fewer loose balls than male leggies do so on her day she'll be very useful, too."
While they dreaded the thought of the Duckworth-Lewis Method kicking in because of an hour-long rain interruption, Lees said they were comfortable knowing it wasn't easy to overhaul a 200-plus target with three batsmen down.
It was a long time since the Sparks had won a round 3-0 so Bates and Co were motivated, he said, despite historically not having the reputation as the strongest association in the women's competition.
He was delighted to revisit the majestic Cornwall Cricket Club today and meet CD counterpart Mike Shrimpton.
"I first played here when I was 17 years old in an under-23 tournament."
CD HINDS v OTAGO SPARKS
From the Sports Action one-day 50-over match between the Central Districts Hinds v Otago Sparks at Cornwall Park,
Hastings, on Saturday:
Otago Sparks
S Tsukigawa b S Thompson 25
L Grant b M Singh 20
S Bates b S Thompson 16
K Martin c Singh b A Burrows 69
V Abbott lbw E Richardson 29
K Crowley b Singh 4
M Cowan run out (S McGlashan) 14
S Osborne c K Broadmore b Singh 5
E Campbell not out 15
K Stiven not out 5
Extras (1b, 1Lb, 8w, 1nb): 11
Total (8 wkts, 50 overs): 213
Fall: 1-50 (Tsukigawa, 11.2), 2-54 (Grant, 12.4), 3-68 (Bates, 17.6), 4-146 (Abbott, 36.4), 5-156 (Crowley, 40.2), 6-172 (Cowan, 42.6), 7-190 (Martin, 44.5), 8-198 (Osborne, 47.2).
Bowling: A Burrows 7.5-1-38-1, K Broadmore 10-1-36-0 (2), M Singh 7-1-35-3 (1w), S Thompson 10-0-42-2, E Richardson 10-0-25-1, S Hui 3-0-24-0 (1nb), K Baxter 2.1-0-11-0 (1w).
CD Hinds
(target 214 runs)
E Richardson lbw S Bates 0
S Cowan b Bates 3
S McGlashan b E Campbell 31
R Priest b Bates 30
K Broadmore lbw S Tsukigawa 3
S Thompson st K Martin b Campbell 8
K Rangi c&b Campbell 14
S Hui run out (Bates/Martin) 0
M Singh not out 1
K Baxter st Martin b Campbell 0
A Burrows injured 0
Extras (0b, 0Lb, 7w, 0nb 0): 7
Total (9 wkts, 26.4 overs): 97
Fall: 1-0 (Richardson, 0.6), 2-6 (Cowan, 2.5), 3-50 (Priest, 11.1), 4-60 (Broadmore, 14.4), 5-76 (McGlashan, 18.6), 6-2 (Thompson, 24.6), 7-96 (Hui, 25.3), 8-96 (Rangi , 26.1), 9-97 (Baxter, 26.4).
Bowling: S Bates 6-1-21-3 (3w), V Abbott 4-0-22-0 (1w), E Campbell 7.4-1-30-4, S Tsukigawa 8-2-20-1 (1w), S Osborne 1-0-4-0.
Result: Otago won by 116 runs.
12th men: M Heal (CD), A White (Otago).
Umpires: A Gillies and M George.
Scorers: Bev Baker and Duncan Mitchell.
Crestfallen Hastings Boys' players were 'pretty emotional' about the incident, says coach.