The Otago Sparks made it two straight successes in the Super Smash with a thoroughly dominant eight-wicket win over the Central Hinds.
They restricted the Hinds to a moderate total of 115 for seven at McLean Park, and sailed to victory in the 17th over.
While the bowlers took all the initial plaudits, the classy finishing touch was provided by Bates, the modern-day great whose golden summer continued with a pugnacious innings of 52 not out off 49 balls.
She mixed patience with aggression, audacity with class, and ensured there would be no wobbles in the chase.
It was not quite a chanceless innings — she was dropped by Hannah Rowe on 38, and later somehow survived edging the ball straight up as the Central keeper and bowler merely stared at each other — but it was a good watch.
Bates played the shot of the day when she stormed down the pitch to Rosemary Mair, came to a halt, and played a sweetly timed late cut to the empty third man boundary.
Her innings took Bates to 328 runs at the magnificent average of 82 in the Super Smash this summer.
The skipper told TVNZ she was pleased all round with her side’s efforts.
"Winning the toss and having a bowl on this wicket was a bit of a risk but I was just so pleased with how the spinners went, and we were really able to control the Hinds in the middle.
"We kept them to a score which was below par and allowed our batters to read the conditions and get the job done."
Bates got good support from fellow opener Bella James as the paid added 84 for the first wicket in Otago’s reply.
James played some crunching shots and looked set to see the chase through before she misjudged a scoop shot and was out for her second consecutive score of 39.
Polly Inglis was left to whack a couple of boundaries to seal victory.
Emma Black had earlier given the Sparks the perfect start when her vicious inswinger caught Georgia Atkinson plumb lbw from the first ball of the innings.
Thamsyn Newton missed a looping yorker from Linsey Smith, but the classy Hollie Armitage set about rescuing the innings after she had offered a low caught and bowled chance to Linsey Smith.
Armitage found it relatively simple to clear the infield as she raced to 47 off 40 balls, adding 53 for the third wicket with Rowe (16) before falling to a diving Bates catch off the bowling of Carson.
That was where all of the momentum to Central’s innings stopped.
Carson applied the screws, ripping out the middle order to finish with three for 15 off four, and Bates bowled her own full quota of overs to keep the run rate low.
Mair and Claudia Green swiped a couple of lusty blows late in the innings but Central would have been highly underwhelmed by their total.
The Sparks will chase their third straight win when they head to Auckland to play the Hearts on Sunday.
CENTRAL HINDS
G Atkinson lbw b Black 0 (1)
H Armitage c Bates b Carson 47 (40)
T Newton b Smith 8 (13)
H Rowe b Bates 16 (23)
M Greig st Inglis b Carson 0 (3)
R Mair not out 16 (18)
F Devonshire b Carson 2 (5)
P Chatterji c Jensen b Black 9 (12)
C Green not out 7 (5)
Extras (3lb, 7w) 10
Total (for 7wkts, 20 overs) 115
Fall: 1-0, 2-25, 3-78, 4-78, 5-78, 6-83, 7-99.
Bowling: E Black 3-0-19-2, H Jensen 4-0-32-0 (1w), L Smith 4-0-17-1, E Carson 4-0-15-3, S Bates 4-0-19-1 (1w), P Watkins 1-0-10-0 (1w).
OTAGO SPARKS
S Bates not out 52 (49)
B James c Dodd b Green 39 (33)
F Robertson c Newton b Mair 10 (11)
P Inglis not out 13 (9)
Extras (1lb, 1w) 1
Total (for 2wkts, 17 overs) 116
Fall: 1-84, 2-100.
Bowling: C Green 4-0-19-1 (1w), H Rowe 4-0-30-0, R Mair 4-0-28-1, P Chatterji 2-0-6-0, A Kumar 2-0-19-0, F Devonshire 1-0-13-0.
Result: Sparks won by eight wickets.
