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Suzie Bates and bowlers give Otago Sparks second win as they thrash Northern Brave

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Women's CricZone Staff
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Suzie Bates and bowlers give Otago Sparks second win as they thrash Northern Brave

Suzie Bates in action © Getty Images

Skipper Suzie Bates continued her good form as Otago Sparks defeated Northern Brave in a comprehensive manner by 61 runs to register their second win in the Super Smash 2021-22. Brave's batting unit was outclassed by a collective bowling performance by Sparks at the Seddon Park in Hamilton on Friday (December 3). 

Earlier in the match, Brave captain Kate Anderson won the toss and elected to field first. Sparks didn’t have a fantastic start to the proceedings but Bates held one end up making sure that runs kept flowing. Her opening partner Polly Inglis scored 18, which remained the second highest score in the innings. 

Bates kept losing partners from one end as Sparks never managed to stitch a long partnership. However, despite strikes from time to time, Brave weren’t able to put too much pressure on Sparks with a few cheap overs on the trot. 55 runs came off the last six overs which helped Otago finish on a strong score of 154 for five.

Bates stayed unbeaten for her 76 runs from 59 balls, hitting eight fours on her way continuing her form that saw her score 64 a few days back against Central Hinds. Caitlin Blakely and Bella James made handy contributions of 16 and 11 respectively. For Brave, Nensi Patel was the pick of the bowlers for her spell of one for 17 in four overs.

ALSO READ: Injury, milestones and a home World Cup: a sit-down with Suzie Bates

In reply, Brave didn’t get off to a good start with Anderson getting dismissed by Emma Black in the third over. They further lost Sam Barriball inside the power play when she was dismissed caught & bowled by Eden Carson. The score was only 29 by then. Brave were once again put into pressure with the wicket of Lucy Boucher for 22, when Sophie Oldershaw trapped her in front of the wicket with the score reading 45 for three in eight overs. 

Beyond this, Brave didn’t get any momentum in the innings. Whenever there was an attempt to push the run rate, wickets kept falling until the innings fell apart. Patel scored 18 and Makayla Templeton made 14, but failed to carry on to get a big score. Some economical bowling helped Sparks choke the Brave’s innings as they ended with a score of only 93 for 8 in their 20 overs. 

With the ball for Otago, Black and Molly Loe picked up two wickets each while Carson and Oldershaw managed to grab one apiece. With this win, Otago now go on top of the points table with two wins from two games. These two sides will face each other once again on December 12. 

Brief scores: Otago Sparks 154 for 5 (Suzie Bates 76*, Nensi Patel 1/17) beat Northern Brave 93 for 8 (Lucy Boucher 22, Emma Black 2/15, Molly Loe 2/21) by 61 runs
Super Smash Suzie Bates Otago Sparks Emma Black Northern Brave Super Smash 2021-22
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