Plenty probably did.
But the Sparks never gave up on themselves.
Somehow they conjured up 292 runs to edge Auckland by four wickets in a dramatic Hallyburton Johnstone Shield final in Dunedin on Saturday.
And they did it with three of their best players watching from the sideline.
They are resilient, this lot.
Then a third White Fern went down.
Key all-rounder Hayley Jensen injured herself during the warm-up.
The Sparks had to scramble to come up with a late plan B which involved White Ferns spinner Eden Carson, who was struggling with a chest infection, opening the bowling.
She was not expecting that. And no-one was expecting what Carson did with the bat later in the game.
This match delivered the drama right up until the last ball.
It looked as though the visitors would spoil a remarkable season for the Sparks in which they had won nine of their 10 round-robin games.
Maddy Green led the way with a career-high 126 and she combined in a massive 182-run stand with Lauren Down, who pummelled 90 from 89 balls.
That should have been plenty.
And it looked plenty when the Sparks lost two early wickets.
But Polly Inglis (86) and the captain Felicity Robertson (53) put on 148 for the third wicket to get the home side into a decent position.
Without that platform, there was no launching pad for Carson and PJ Watkins. No stage for their heroics.
It was Inglis and Robertson who did the grunt work.
"I’m just so proud of the girls," Inglis said.
"I don’t know if we will play a better game of cricket than that. It was unbelievable."
It really was unbelievable.
The Sparks’ previous highest successful chase was against Auckland 20 years ago. They overhauled 248 to win by seven wickets in Queenstown.
"We knew it was a really good wicket, and if we played good shots then we’d get good rewards. But as I said, we just took it ball by ball and tried to build partnerships where we could and it paid off.
"Floss and I just tried to run hard and build some momentum going into the back end of the innings."
They batted nicely. However, they both got out a couple of overs apart.
That left all-rounder PJ Watkin and Carson to hunt down the final 102 runs needed.
"Yeah, there was some massive nerves. But you know, that’s what we play for is that excitement and we know that Eden has got a little bit of mongrel in her from Maniototo.
"So we knew she could kind of dig in and get us over the line and PJ was awesome as well."
Yes, she was. And so was the mongrel from the Maniototo.
Carson was dropped and almost ran out from the same play early in her knock.
But the diminutive right-hander survived and went on the attack. She smashed 59 from 43 balls and Watkins impressed as well with 47 from 60.
They kept defying the odds and chipping away at the target until they needed just eight from the last over.
But this rollercoaster of a game kept delivering the entertainment.
They needed two runs off the last ball and scrambled back for a second somehow.
"I thought I was about to start crying. I was so proud of the girls, you know, whether we got over the line or not, like it’s a mammoth chase."
AUCKLAND
S Shahri c Browning b Carson 8
I Gaze c Inglis b Robertson 25
M Green c Watkins b Carson 126
B Halliday c Wilson b Robertson 20
L Down c Browning b Blakely 90
B Armstrong not out 7
Extras (2b, 3lb, 9w, 1nb) 15
Total (for 5 wkts, 50 overs) 291
Fall: 1-30, 2-45, 3-79, 4-261, 5-291.
Bowling: E Black 10-2-49-0 (4w, 1nb), E Carson 10-0-63-2, F Robertson 10-1-37-2 (1w), M Loe 5-0-29-0, C Deerness 7-0-44-0 (3w), A Browning 4-0-29-0, PJ Watkins 2-0-22-0 (1w), C Blakely 2-0-13-1.
OTAGO
F Robertson b Halliday 53
S Wilson lbw Illing 1
O Gain b Illing 5
P Inglis c Shahri b Halliday 86
C Blakely c&b Hucker 18
P Watkins not out 47
A Browning st Gaze b Halliday 2
E Carson not out 59
Extras (1b, 1lb, 15w, 1nb) 21
Total (6 wickets, 50 overs) 292
Fall: 1-2, 2-8, 3-156, 4-167, 5-181, 6-190.
Bowling: A Hucker 10-0-50-1 (2w), B Illing 9-0-42-2 (1w), A Todd 10-0-67-0 (1w), F Jonas 10-0-70-0 (3w, 1nb), M Green 2-0-18-0, J Penfold 2-0-17-0 (3w), B Halliday
7-0-23-3 (1w).
Result: Otago won by four wickets.
