Otago faced a mammoth chase before rain intervened during its one-dayer against Northern Districts in Whangarei yesterday.
The home side had reached 308 for four in the 46th over when it started raining and it did not stop in time for the game to resume.
Bernadine Bezuidenhout and Caitlin Gurrey put on 164 for the first wicket to set up the massive total.
Gurrey was trapped lbw 13 short of a century but Bezuidenhout went on to raise the milestone before she was also trapped in front for 101.
It was Northern Districts’ second-highest team total and they were on track to eclipse the 312 for two they posted against Canterbury in Hamilton in 2018-19.
It would have taken a very special effort from un understrength Sparks unit to overhaul the tally.
While Northern will feel robbed of a win, they did secure a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS)-assisted victory on Saturday.
Sparks opener Kate Ebrahim picked up where she left off last season and stroked an unbeaten 100 from 150 balls.
She did not get much support from the rest of the batting unit, however Northern conceded 51 extras which helped the Sparks reached 238 for eight from its 50 overs.
But Northern took the attack to Otago bowlers and had reached 119 for one from 22 overs by the time the rain arrive.
Bezuidenhout clouted 62 not out from 68 and all-rounder Brooke Halliday offered support with 38 not out and four for 41 to help Northern notch a 47-run DLS win.
Ebrahim’s century went unrewarded but the former White Fern has made another statement. She was the top run-scorer in the one-day format last season.
It was her sixth list A century and it carried her past 4000 career runs.
Otago coach Craig Cumming was upbeat despite the loss.
"In game one ... we got a total I thought was just under par and we probably left 20 of 30 out there," he said.
"They got off to a good start, but when the rain hit they were in exactly the same position we were in, so we still had belief.
"[Yesterday] they batted very well and they taught us some good lessons on how to bat. They’ve given us a really good wake-up call in terms of the plans we’ve got to put in place."
The Sparks were without White Ferns duo Suzie Bates and Hayley Jensen, who are playing in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia.
Fellow White Fern Eden Carson was also ruled out late. She picked up a shin injury on Friday and was rested as a precaution.
Polly Inglis, Paige Loggenberg and Olivia Gain were also missing which stripped the visitors of some batting power.
In the other games, Wellington beat Canterbury by 127 runs in Rangiora yesterday. Saturday’s fixture was abandoned without a ball bowled.
In New Plymouth, Central Districts beat Auckland by six wickets on Saturday but the yesterday’s game was rained off.
