But it had to share the spoils with Otago after each team collected a win this weekend.
Otago won the opening one-day match at Brooklands Park on Saturday.
English import Alice Davidson-Richards top-scored with 50 to help the home team post 172.
Katey Martin made a valuable 36 and Millie Cowan made a quick 27 from 31 deliveries.
Kate Ebrahim shone with the ball for Canterbury. The medium-pacer picked up three for 30. But nobody in her side could really get going with the bat.
Ella Brown was the best of the Sparks bowlers, with three for 18. But Leigh Kasperek and Emma Black claimed two apiece as well, while Davidson-Richards was tidy with one for 43 from 10 overs.
Canterbury could only muster 129 in reply and lost by 43 runs.
But the visitors turned the tables at the University of Otago Oval yesterday. Opener Francis Mackay blazed 115 from 134 balls to power her side to 275 for seven. It was her seventh one-day century, and she combined in staggering 192-run stand for the second wicket with Kirsty Nation (82).
Kasperek was the pick of the Otago bowlers with three for 40 — an outstanding return in the context of the game.
Otago struggled to keep pace with the required run rate and was eventually dismissed for 229 to lose by 46 runs.
Mackay nabbed four for 34 to complete a stunning game. Martin top-scored for Otago with 45.
The shared tie has left Otago in third place with nine points. Canterbury is fourth with four points. Central Districts (20 points) and Auckland (19 points) are unbeaten after four games, while Wellington (four points) and Northern Districts (no points) are at the foot of the table.
