On again. Off again. On again. Off again.
Otago cannot catch a break.
Just when the Otago Sparks looked to be squeezing Northern Brave’s batting line-up hard enough to prevent it from posting a reasonable total, the pesky rain came out, the covers went on and the Super Smash match was all over.
It was a frustrating end to the match for the Sparks who, after struggling to find wickets early in the match, took the Brave’s middle order down easily and were coming home strong.
Without the chance to bat, the Sparks were forced to settle with sharing the points.
Earlier in the day the Otago Volts game against Northern Districts had been washed out without an over bowled, so perhaps the Sparks were lucky to get any game time at all.
In a rare night fixture, the Sparks won the toss and elected to bowl first at Seddon Park.
The Brave was aggressive from the start, with openers Bernadine Bezuidenhout and captain Eimear Richardson laying a good foundation.
The Sparks squandered early opportunities when Polly Inglis narrowly missed a Richardson edge and Sophie Oldershaw dropped Bezuidenhout.
Bezuidenhout (28) was starting to look dangerous when she came down the wicket to an Eden Carson ball, only to chip it straight into the safe hands of Suzie Bates.
It gave the Sparks their opening wicket and put the Brave at 41 for one at the end of the power play.
Richardson began to fire, but really she should have been back in the stands earlier.
After being dropped for the second time, the Brave captain made her opposition pay with lovely touches, mixing up her methods of attack and striking some strong boundaries.
But after going for a sweep-shot, Richardson was pinned lbw, leaving her team 77 for two in the tenth over.
Then the Brave began to crumble, thanks to Bates and one of the strangest overs in a while.
Inglis dropped the first ball and Bates dropped her second, before she bowled Holly Topp (5) and followed that up with the lbw of Sam Barriball (11).
Carson (two for 18) and Kate Ebrahim (two for 13) made quick work of Nensi Patel (2) and Marina Lamplough (4) respectively.
It restricted the Brave’s run-rate dramatically and put big pressure on its tail to try to build a more challenging total at the death.
But then the rain settled in and the game was stopped with the Brave at 122 for seven in the 18th over.
There briefly looked to be a chance of the game getting under way again when the bowlers run-up covers were removed, but the rain set in thick and forced the game to be called off.
- Rain also had the final say for the Otago Volts today.
The team’s Super Smash game against Northern Districts was abandoned with no play just before 4.45pm.
The Volts and Northern sharing of the points, means Northern Districts maintain its hold on third place spot on the table, with the Volts just behind in fourth place.
It would have been an interesting match with the Volts’ four first-choice bowlers, Michael Rippon, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rae and Matt Bacon all missing from the line-up due to a combination of injury, Covid-19 and Bacon’s time off due to the arrival of his first child.
Jarrod McKay was due to make his debut, but will have to wait for another chance.
