All-rounder Ella Brown will skipper the side in the absence of Bella James.
James is unavailable due to a pre-arranged break. Her spot in the top order is being filled by dual hockey and cricket representative Millie Cowan.
There is one other change to the side which lost to Central Districts in the opening round. Marina Lamplough comes in for Bridget Thayer.
Brown has captained the under-21 team for the past two years and has been part of the Sparks leadership group.
Northern Districts has a couple of changes as well.
Georgina Harris and Charlotte Sarsfield have been named in the Spirit squad for the first time this season.
The pair have been playing in the early rounds of Northern Districts’ Northern Premier League, so are not coming in cold.
The Spirit shared its opening matches with Canterbury. It recorded a five-wicket win first up but was edged by 29 runs in the second match.
Opener Katie Gurrey was the leading contributor with innings of 123 and 83. She is the competition’s leading run scorer and a key wicket for the Sparks.
The Sparks suffered a 73-loss to Central Districts earlier this month. The second game was abandoned due to poor weather.
Sparks coach Nathan King said his inexperienced side bowled and fielded quite well but struggled with the bat.
Chasing 199 for the win, the team was dismissed for 125. Debutant Sophie Gray top-scored with 36.
"[Batting] is going to be our biggest challenge, no doubt about that," King said.
"Hayley Jensen certainly adds a lot of experience to the batting line-up, but it is a fairly inexperienced batting line-up that has not had a great amount of success in the past."
- Australia opener David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne continued their rich vein of form to help Australia to 139 for one at dinner on the first day of the pink-ball test against Pakistan in Adelaide last night, AAP reports.
Both century makers from the opening test at the Gabba, the pair put on 131 for the second wicket with Warner unbeaten on 72 and Labuschagne on 60.
About the only force looking like stopping the pair was the rain, after a two-hour delay from light showers halted their charge either side of tea.
But otherwise they were in complete control.
OTAGO v ND
University of Otago Oval, today and tomorrow, 10.30am
Otago: Olivia Gain, Caitlin Blakely, Millie Cowan, Hayley Jensen, Bhagya Herath, Georgia Clarke, Sophie Gray, Ella Brown (captain), Emma Black, Eden Carson, Sophie Oldershaw, Marina Lamplough.
Northern Districts: Katie Gurrey, Olivia Lobb,Felicity Leydon-Davis (captain), Kate Anderson, Eimear Richardson, Alisha Rout, Carolyn Esterhuizen, Lily Mulivai, Shriya Naidu, Lauren Heaps, Georgina Harris, Charlotte Sarsfield.
