Seventeen-year-old left-armer Kate Heffernan took four for 21 to help her side seal a five-run win against Canterbury in Rangiora on Saturday.
The Sparks posted 133 for six, thanks to a superb innings from the team’s leading player, Suzie Bates.
The White Ferns captain pummelled 74 from 52 balls and a bigger score appeared in the offing. But the home side rallied with a series of wickets and then made a solid start with the bat. The turning point came when Heffernan, a year 13 pupil at St Hilda’s Collegiate, bowled the dangerous Amy Satterthwaite with a cracking delivery which swung in and clattered into middle and off.
Canterbury fell off the pace and was eventually restricted to 128 for eight.
Bates believes Heffernan is a star in the making if she chooses to stick with cricket. The teenager is also a talented netball player and was named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools squad earlier this month.
"I think she is one of the [few] left-armers in the country ... I’m sure she has a bright future in the sport," Bates said.
The Sparks last title came in January 2014, when the team beat Auckland in the one-day final. It was its first title in 51 years.
