2023/24 HALLYBURTON JOHNSTONE SHIELD
Round 7
Saturday, 3 February 2024
University of Otago Oval, Dunedin
OTAGO SPARKS beat NORTHERN DISTRICTS by 5 wickets - bonus point win
Otago Sparks : 5 points
ND: 0 points
Selected milestones
- Louisa Kotkamp : List A Debut
- Polly Inglis : 100th List A game
- Jesse Prasad and Marama Downes : Record 9th wicket partnership in List A for Northern Brave Women (73)
Otago's women seized their opportunity to get their one-day campaign back on track, bouncing off a good T20 summer and into the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield with a W.
The comfortable five-wicket win meant they'd be in with a chance the following day to move into the top two on the table, pending other results.
Captain Felicity Robertson put Northern in on a crisp Dunedin morning, and it quickly paid dividends as pace star Emma Black (4/21) chalked up three of her wickets inside the first nine overs.
On one-day debut, young Louisa Kotkamp meanwhile hadn't had to wait long to snare her maiden wicket with Nensi Patel departing caught at 22/3 after she opened the attack alongside the pocket destroyer, Black.
When Eden Carson added Sam Barriball at 47/5 in just the 12th over, Northern was exposed and needed a massive effort from here to get a defendable total on the board against the well performed hosts.
The Sparks kept chipping out wickets, but after the loss of Holly Topp in the 25th over Northern found some would-be saviours in Jesse Prasad (49 not out) and their pace bowling star of the summer, Marama Downes (24).
The pair broke their team's ninth wicket partnership record by adding 73, batting into the 42nd over together.
That brought the last woman, Kayley Knight, to the middle and she supported Prasad for a further four overs before ND was all out for 188 in the 45th over, debutante Kotkamp picking up her second to finish it off with 2/42.
Downes continued to enjoy her day with two early wickets, while Prasad also stopped Saffron Wilson, who's scored her maiden century earlier in the season, inside the first 10 overs at 28/3.
A big shift from Robertson (42) and Inglis (36) - in her 100th overall List A appearance (having played seven matches for Nottinghamshire), settled the dust down for the Dunedinites.
They put on 72 for the fourth wicket, and the Sparks began to ease ahead of the required run rate through the middle stages.
Downes (3/37) had the satisfaction of breaking the stand with Robertson skittled on 42, Inglis was run out, but Suzie Bates with 33 not out and Olivia Gain with an unbeaten 44* were in no mood to go anywhere, and secured a comfortable victory in the 39th over to collect the valuable bonus point.
Macro alias: CompetitionCentre
