All of them.
Otago stunned Wellington by 138 runs to win the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield in Queenstown yesterday.
The Blaze crushed the Sparks by 75 runs in the final of the Super Smash last month and was looking to be the first New Zealand women’s domestic team to complete a full season unbeaten.
But you cannot count your cut shot until it has left the middle of the bat.
The Sparks upstaged the visiting side. They posted 220 for nine and rolled the their opponent for just 82.
Captain Kate Ebrahim set up the win with a patient knock of 92.
Spinner Eden Carson helped close out the game with five for 17.
Marina Lamplough pulled off the catch of the match. She defied gravity by gliding above the grass tops to pluck the ball from the air with one hand.
Strike bowler Emma Black dismissed three of the top five.
New cap Harriett Cuttance picked up her maiden wicket and it was that of dangerous Rebecca Burns.
And Caitlin Blakely stroked her seventh list A and combined in a crucial second-wicket stand.
It was the Sparks first one-day title since the 2013-14 season.
Coach Craig Cumming was elated.
‘‘It might take a little bit longer to sink in,’’ Cumming said shortly after the game.
‘‘But at the moment they are enjoying being with each other and are about to head into the changing room and sing the team song.
‘‘There is a huge amount of excitement for them which is great.’’
Wellington picked up the early wicket of Bella James for four before she could become established.
But the scalp the visiting team really wanted was at the other end digging in for a long haul — just as she has all season.
Ebrahim was solid, and solid in a final is exactly what you want from your experienced campaigners.
She was joined at the wicket by the vastly improved Blakely.
The pair put on 103 to set up a tremendous platform.
Blakely was the more aggressive of the duo and pushed through to 57 before she was adjudged lbw on 57.
Kate Chandler trapped her in front.
Polly Inglis did not last long. She went lbw to Chandler as well.
Another clump of wickets fell in the 41st over. Otago’s platform had unravelled a little.
Ebrahim was having to nurse a new partnership a bit too often to have the freedom to tee off earlier.
There was some frantic running between the wickets which did not always end well for the Sparks.
Ebrahim eventually fell victim to that madness.
She tried to poach a second which was never on and was run out in the last over.
But she was an otherwise calm and almost eternal influence on the batting effort.
Her knock was just further evidence her snub from the national side makes no sense — no sense at all.
Wellington never threatened with the bat.
Burns fell early for four and Black nabbed three more quick wickets. The Blaze had slumped to 29 for four.
The remaining batting line-up had not seen a lot of action.
Wellington had been leaning on its talented crew of White Ferns, who were away preparing for the World Cup, and the side lacked the depth to turn the innings around.
The Sparks were without White Ferns trio Suzie Bates, Hayley Jensen and Katey Martin as well.
Cricket fans may have been left bemused the game was not broadcast on Spark Sport like the men’s final a day earlier.
The match was livestreamed on a free service but the quality was poor as there was just one camera.
- Pakistan beat New Zealand by four wickets in a World Cup warm-up match in Lincoln yesterday.
The White Ferns posted 229 but the visiting side overhauled the target in the last over. Aliya Riaz top-scored with 62 not out.
