The Otago Sparks have just missed out on a final's berth in the women's domestic competition, despite picking up a seven wicket victory over the Northern Spirit at University Oval in Dunedin.
Having limited the Spirit to 125 for six in the first innings, the Sparks were able to keep in full control of their pursuit and brought up the winnings runs with four balls in hand. Sadly though, they stay behind the Wellington Blaze in third due to an inferior net run-rate.
Katey Martin (30) and Sarah Tsukigawa (26) got the home side’s reply off to a solid start, putting on 58 for the opening wicket.
Tsukigawa fell at the halfway mark in the innings, before both Martin and the dangerous Suzie Bates (9) went not long after to have the Sparks 78 for three.
Thankfully though the fourth wicket partnership would be a prosperous one, with N Bolton (29) and Victoria Abbot (16) marching on and slamming home the required runs off the second ball off the final over.
Earlier, Northern had got off to a good start with the bat, but weren’t able to convert it into a big score.
The top four all got scores of above 20, with opener Anna Peterson leading the way with 35 from 32 balls. Kerry- Anne Tomlinson chipped in with 29, but a flurry of late wickets somewhat stemmed their progress.
In the end they were held to 125 - a decent yet not imposing total.
Tsukigawa continued her good all-round season, collecting four wickets in her four overs for 33 runs. Sarah Osborne also contributed with one wicket.
