But the Otago Sparks have no plans of making it a habit.
They cruised through the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield games with six wins from six games.
But the opening game of the Super Smash provided a reality check.
Canterbury fought back to win by 12 runs in Alexandra on Friday.
It was the Sparks' first loss for the season and it provided some inspiration for their seven-wicket win against the Auckland Hearts at Molyneux Park today.
They restricted the Hearts to 110 for eight and chased down the modest target with nearly five overs remaining.
Coach Craig Cumming thought the bowling effort was superb.
"That set up a total we should be confident chasing.
"So it was nice after a tough day [against Canterbury] to learn some lessons and play some good cricket.
"Sometimes you’ve got to have a lesson like that to get better and today they were very good."
Auckland had a reasonable platform three-quarters of the way through their innings.
The Hearts were 86 for six.
They had not got away from Otago by any stretch. But with a good finish, they would have had a decent tally.
But Otago wrestled back control with some tight bowling at the death.
The Sparks gave up just one boundary in the final five overs and picked up a couple more wickets.
Auckland’s top five all scored at a brisk clip but none of them were able to cash-in on their start.
Opener Saachi Shahri had an absolute heave and was bowled for 10 by Eden Carson.
The White Ferns off-spinner picked up the key wicket of Maddy Green (21) as well.
Suzie Bates took the catch down at long-on.
Bates also caught Lauren Down (14) in a similar spot.
Brooke Halliday top-scored with 22 from 19 balls.
Carson finished with three for 28. But opener Emma Black’s haul of one for 16 represented a very solid shift for Otago and import Kirstie Gordon shone with two for 14.
Polly Inglis fumbled a couple of stumping opportunities. But that was the only real flaw in an otherwise disciplined effort in the field.
The Sparks lost Bates early. The veteran White Ferns batter was bowled by left-arm spinner Fran Jonas for eight.
Jonas also bowled the in-form Bella James, who shuffled to off and tried to swat Jonas behind square on the leg side but missed.
She had walloped 20 from 12 and the Sparks were nicely positioned at 45 for two by the end of the powerplay.
But the Hearts kept their field up and squeezed the partnership between Felicity Robertson and Caitlin Blakely.
Robertson cracked first and slapped a shot straight to Down on 23.
But Polly Inglis broke the boundary drought with a lovely cut shot to ease some pressure.
She lofted Green down the ground for a brace of boundaries the next over and that was all it took to put the home team back in the driver’s seat.
Auckland responded by bringing back Jonas for her final over. The Sparks recognised the moment for what it was — the final roll of the dice — and saw her off.
Inglis finished undefeated on 29 from 21 and Blakely was 21 not out.
Auckland
S Shahri b Carson 10 (10)
I Gaze c Black b Gordon 19 (18)
M Green c Bates b Carson 21 (24)
B Halliday b Robertson 22 (19)
L Down c Bates b Jensen 14 (21)
P Catton c Blakely b Carson 0 (1)
B Armstrong b Black 3 (6)
J Penfold c Inglis b Gordon 6 (9)
M Penfold not out 10 (11)
B Illing not out 1 (1)
Extras (w 4) 4
Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs) 110
Fall: 1-26, 2-30, 3-65, 4-80, 5-80, 6-85, 7-98, 8-107
Bowling: E Black 4-0-16-1, H Jensen 4-0-25-1, E Carson 4-0-28-3 (2w), K Gordon 4-0-14-2 (1w), A Browning 2-0-14-0, F Robertson 2-0-13-1.
Otago
S Bates b Jonas 8 (13)
B James b Jonas 20 (12)
F Robertson c Down b Green 19 (23)
C Blakely not out 21 (23)
P Inglis not out 29 (21)
Extras (b 1, lb 2, w 11, nb 1) 15
Total (for 3 wkts, 15.1 overs) 112
Fall: 1-17, 2-44, 3-66
Bowling: B Illing 3-0-22-0 (4w), M Penfold 2-0-22-0 (2w), F Jonas 4-0-21-2 (3w), B Halliday 2.1-0-12-0, J Penfold 1-0-8-0 (2w, 1nb), M Green 2-0-10-1, P Catton 1-0-14-0.
Result: Otago won by seven wickets.
