Five wickets for Otago’s Eden Carson. Another win for the Sparks. All is mostly well in the camp.
The Sparks dismissed the Central Hinds for just 90 runs in the Super Smash game at Fitzherbert Park in Palmerston North yesterday.
Carson grabbed her second T20 five wicket-bag.
Her haul of five for 18 underlined her status as one of the country’s leading spinners.
The four-wicket win was not entirely convincing, though.
Otago’s top four were bundled out reasonably cheaply and the innings got marooned.
But PJ Watkins (16) and Polly Inglis (21) added a valuable 29 for the fifth wicket to get the Sparks to within 10 runs of victory.
Anna Browning edged the ball down to third man to win the game with the best part of two overs to spare.
The victory means the Sparks move into top position midway through the round robin phase.
Carson was undoubtedly the star.
She dropped a catch and busted her sunglasses, but everything else went to script for her.
"I was a bit scared. I didn’t know whether we were going to get over the line there," Carson told TVNZ.
"We like to make it a bit hard for ourselves sometimes."
Carson said she had been working with former Black Caps spinner Paul Wiseman on her action through the offseason.
"It is really nice to have a better action and not a sore back, so I’m happy with that."
Hinds opener Hollie Armitage looked threatening until she chipped a full toss from Carson to Bella James on 22.
The hard-hitting Hannah Rowe had to go for nine when she sliced a catch to Hayley Jensen.
Carson got a third wicket moments later when she trapped Tamsyn Newton lbw for 14.
Newton was playing her 100th Super Smash game.
Carson completed her five-wicket bag by bowling Flora Devonshire and Georgia Atkinson with consecutive balls.
The Hinds had got themselves into a reasonable spot at 65 for two. But they lost eight wickets for a further 25 runs.
Otago swing bowler Emma Black picked up three for 12 in a tidy performance, while Jensen’s one for 13 represented good value as well.
The Hinds have a quality bowling lineup, though, and they also have form. They almost defended 89 in their last outing against the Sparks.
Otago were also without talismanic batter Suzie Bates.
Rowe struck in the second over, removing makeshift opener Felicity Robertson for four.
Oliva Gain (9) and James (20) played a sparkling shot or two before making mistakes.
Caitlin Blakely could not get going and was undone by Rosemary Mair on 13.
But Inglis and Watkins took the attack back to the Hinds to help secure the win.
CENTRAL DISTRICTS
H Armitage c James b Carson 22 (21)
K Tomlinson c Black b Browning 18 (29)
T Newton lbw Carson 14 (17)
H Rowe c Jensen b Carson 9 (14)
M Greig b Black 5 (6)
F Devonshire b Carson 5 (6)
R Mair c James b Jensen 10 (8)
G Atkinson b Carson 0 (1)
K Gaging not out 2 (5)
C Green b Black 1 (3)
O Bartlett b Black 0 (2)
Extras (1lb, 3w) 4
Total (all out, 18.4 overs) 90
Fall: 1-38, 2-49, 3-65, 4-68, 5-74, 6-80, 7-80, 8-89, 9-90, 10-90.
Bowling: E Black 3.4-0-12-3 (1w), H Jensen 3-0-13-1 (1w), K Gordon 4-0-24-0 (1w), E Carson 4-0-18-5, F Robertson 2-0-11-0, A Browning 2-0-11-1.
OTAGO
B James b Devonshire 20 (25)
F Robertson lbw Rowe 4 (3)
O Gain c Mair b Green 9 (12)
C Blakely c Rowe b Mair 13 (24)
P Inglis c Rowe b Nair 21 (25)
P Watkins c Bartlett b Green 16 (15)
A Browning not 5 (4)
H Jensen not out 0 (1)
Extras (1b, 3w) 4
Total (6 wkts, 18.1 overs) 92
Fall: 1-4, 2-14, 3-40, 4-52, 5-81, 6-87.
Bowling: R Mair 4-1-12-2 (1w), H Rowe 3.1-0-26-1 (1w), C Green 4-0-12-2, F Devonshire 4-0-18-1 (1w), O Bartlett 2-016-0, T Newton 1-0-7-0.
Result: Otago won by four wickets.
