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Sparks 100
Martin 16, Black 16, Kasperek 3/23
Blaze 175/4
Devine 92, Green 55, Black 2/36
Wellington win by 75 runs
Otago Sparks
18th over - Devine returns to mop up the tail perhaps. First two balls to James are yorkers, barely kept out.
WICKET
James plays straight back down the ground past Devine and the batters try for two runs. The throw to Devine is good and Oldershaw is run out to end the match, OTA 100
Oldershaw 0 run out
17th over - Jetley into her second and James drives through the offside for two. The throw from Jess Kerr is reviewed for a runout...
WICKET
Kerr's throw hits the stumps on the bounce and finds Black short of her ground, OTA 98/9
Black 16 run out (J Kerr)
Oldershaw is the laster batter.
16th over - Kasperek into her third, but Black greets her, swatting over the rope for six. Black swings for a top edge over the keeper and two runs.
Black swings away again for four, but it was reviewed for six. She swings again and barely falls short of a fielder.
Black hits back over the bowler for another two - nice intent in this over. Fifteen runs of it, OTA 96/8
15th over - Xara Jetly into her first over and completely beats Black with spin on her first two deliveries, OTA 81/8
14th over - WICKET
Kasperek has another wicket, as Carson swings and Melie Kerr is underneath, OTA 72/8
Carson 7 c A Kerr b Kasperek
James survives a stumping appeal, but finally connects for four to end the over, OTA 78/8
13th over - Kerr will bowl out. James swings for the boundary, but barely evades the infield.
Carson connects and hits back over Kerr's head for four, OTA 72/7
12th over - Leigh Kasperek to bowl her first over.
WICKET
Gain advances down the pitch and gets under the second delivery. Melie Kerr is under the ball for the catch, OTA 64/6
Gain 10 c A Kerr b Kasperek
WICKET
Blakely hits tamely back to the bowler and Kasperek is on a hat-trick, OTA 64/7
Blakely 9 c & b Kasperek
Thirty-two hat-trick chances this season and not one yet. She tosses it up, but Eden Carson doesn't have to play a shot outside off-stump, OTA 65/7
11th over - Kerr into her third over. Gain and Blakely are going out swinging...
Blakely steps outside leg stump and swings lustily, OTA 63/5
10th over - Devine into her third over. Gain gets all of that and clears the ropes.
Devine digs one in short and Gain gloves it to fine leg, OTA 58/5
Ninth over - Kerr back for her second. Blakely swings her towards the ropes, but only the single.
WICKET
Jensen tries to drive, but it loops to Jess Kerr for a Kerr 1-2 punch, OTA 47/5
Jensen 4 c J Kerr b A Kerr
Eighth over - WICKET
Martin steps down the wicket, but toe-ends the ball to Jess Kerr for an easy catch.
Martin 16 c J Kerr b Devine
Just three runs from the over, OTA 46/4
Seventh over - Melie Kerr for her first over. Run rate now over 10 an over.
Martin top edges past McFadyen and Burns chases the ball down before it reaches the rope, OTA 43/3
Sixth over - Devine will take the ball now. Required run rate is now 9.44 an over.
WICKET
Devine bowls straight through Ebrahim and takes out her off-stump.
Ebrahim 4 b Devine
Devine let Ebrahim know about that, as she left the field, OTA 37/3
Fifth over - Kerr into her third over. Martin hits towards the ropes, but Newton dives and limits the damage to two runs.
Martin laps for four, OTA 36/2
Fourth over - Singh into her second over, but her first ball drifts wide down legside. Martin drives for four, OTA 28/2.
Third over - WICKET
Bates steps forward and swings lustily at Jess Kerr's next ball, but picks out Newton in the outfield.
Bates 1 c Newton b J Kerr
Ebrahim is now at the crease, two new batters and a massive total to chase, OTA 21/2
Second over - Singh to bowl her first over. Inglis swats her back over her head for four.
Inglis swings her onto the legside for another boundary.
WICKET
Inglis swings hard, but edges the ball to McFadyen behind the wickets for a catch.
Inglis 13 c McFadyen b Singh
First over - Jess Kerr to open the bowling and Bates gets off the mark with a single. Big run chase here.
Inglis steps away and laps over her shoulder for four on the last ball, OTA 6/0
Wellington Blaze
20th over - Black into her last over and Devine strokes her to the boundary, beating the despairing dives of two fieldrs. Next ball is well wide outside off-stump, but not called, because Devine followed it.
WICKET
Devine doesn't get all of the next ball and is caught on the boundary.
Devine 92 c Blakely, b Black
Black bowls another wide yorker and Green doesn't follow it, so that's called wide. Green lofts the penultimate ball for four.
WICKET
Green tries to loft the last ball to long-on, but finds Bates on the boundary.
Green 55 c Bates, b Black
19th over - Ebrahim into her last over and straight into the blockhole. Green and Devine can't time their shots against Ebrahim.
Ebrahim serves Green up a full toss that's dismissed to the bank for six. Green brings up her 50 with a cheeky couple, WEL 165/2
18th over - Carson for her last over, after taking a bit of tap in her third. Green slogs her to the rop, just beating Bates' dive.
Green ramps Carson her over shoulder for two, then chips one short of the catcher. Devine sweeps high and handsome for another six...
Devine executes the same short, same result, WEL 156/2
17th over - Ebrahim into her third over. Nice lines from her, limiting the batters to singles.
Green drives straight, but it falls short of Bates on the boundary. Just four from the over, WEL 135/2
16th over - Oldershaw into her final over and Green lifts her straight down the ground for six.
Devine hits one along the ground back to Oldershaw, who traps the ball with her foot and almost runs Green out, WEL 131/2
15th over - Jensen comes back for her final over, trying to break this partnership, which has reached 50 runs in 35 balls.
Green top edges behind square leg, but it evades the fielder. Devine swings through the onside, just clearing the fielder for six.
Devine repeats the shot into space for four, WEL 123/2
14th over - Carson into her third over. Devine tries to swat her to legside, but doesn't connect and Martin dives to take what might have been a catch, if she had.
Devine drives to the boundary for four and her 50, then swats high towards the boundary, where she's dropped.
Carson loses her form, as Devine swats a full toss for six, WEL 110/2
13th over - Ebrahim returns for her second over. Devine swings her away for four off the first ball.
Devine tries to repeat the shot and mistimes for no run. Ebrahim limits the batters to two singles off the rest of the over, WEL 95/2
12th over - Oldershaw into her third over and Devine sweeps for four, WEL 89/2
11th over - Black returns for her third over. Green swings her towards the ropes, but Ebrahim chases the ball down and limits scoring to two.
Green lifts the next ball straight down the park for four. Black takes Green on the pads and Martin is excited behind the stumps, but gets no support.
Black finds Green's pads again, but the ball is headed down legside, WEL 82/2
10th over - Oldershaw to Green. Nice over from her, conceding just five runs, WEL 76/2
Ninth over - Carson changes ends, after her accurate opening over.
WICKET
Kerr tries to play the opening delivery off her pads, but misses and is trapped plumb in front - big breakthrough from Carson.
Kerr lbw Carson 20
Maddy Green comes to the crease and edges her first delivery past slip for four. Green drives through the offside for four to close the over, WEL 71/2
Eighth over - Kate Ebrahim into the attack. Devine chips one off her pads and although it's aerial, it falls short of Carson on the boundary.
Ebrahim limiting the batters to singles, WEL 60/1
Seventh over - Sophie Oldershaw serves up a pie for Devine to cut for four. Second ball is a sandshoe crusher and has Devine in a tangle.
Oldershaw drops another short and wide, and Kerr cuts to the boundary, WEL 53/1
Sixth over - Eden Carson brings her spin to the attack. She beats Devine outside off-stump and Martin is interested in a stumping chance.
Devine and Kerr are finding Carson difficult to get away - just three singles from the over, WEL 43/1
Fifth over - Jensen for her third over. Kerr hooks the fourth ball for four and Jensen strays down legside next ball, WEL 40/1
Fourth over - Black into her second over, starts with two dots. Kerr opens her account with four off the third ball.
Devine cuts behind point for four and runs a sharp single to retain strike, WEL 34/1
Third over - Hayley Jensen for her second over. Second ball sneaks past the outside of Plimmer's bat, not missing off-stump by much.
WICKET
Plimmer gets all around that delivery and spoons it towards Bates, who tumbles onto the ground, with the rest of her team following in celebration.
Melie Kerr comes to the wicket, but Devine swats the final ball of the over to the rope, WEL 24/1
Second over - Emma Black to bowl the second over and her opening delivery is wide down the legside. A few early nerves, but Katie Martin manages to stop further damage.
Second delivery moves in the air and Plimmer tries to guide past the slips and is almost caught, but dropped.
Black puts her fifth delivery into the slots and Devine swings it over the boundary for six, WEL 19/0
First over - Hayley Jensen opens the bowling to Sophie Devine, who cuts square for four to open the innings.
Devine blocks out the second ball and kicks it clear of the stumpes, as Jensen appeals for obstruction halfheartedly, as she charges down to field the ball, WEL 7/0
2:53pm - Wellington's Maddy Green has won the toss and elected to bat first. Otago captain Suzie Bates admits she would have batted first too, but isn't too sure about the pitch, so also happy not to make a bad decision.
*****
Kia ora, good afternoon and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the women's Super Smash final between Wellington Blaze and Otago Sparks from Hamilton's Seddon Park.
Riding a 10-game win streak, the Blaze enter Saturday's showpiece as the hot favourites. With White Ferns stars Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr among their star-studded line-up, the women from the capital will look to round out their undefeated campaign with their second title in three years.
But with a sizzling Suzie Bates leading the way, the Sparks will fancy their chances of an upset and their first Super Smash title since 2017.
We'll have all the live action from 3pm.
TAB odds: Wellington Blaze $1.33, Otago Sparks $3.10
Wellington Blaze: Maddy Green (captain), Amelia Kerr, Rebecca Burns, Tash Codyre, Sophie Devine, Xara Jetly, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Kerr, Caitlin King, Jess McFadyen, Thamsyn Newton, Georgia Plimmer, Maneka Singh
Otago Sparks: Suzie Bates (captain), Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Eden Carson, Kate Ebrahim, Olivia Gain, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Hayley Jensen, Marina Lamplough, Katey Martin (w), Sophie Oldershaw, Saffron Wilson
Suzie Bates brilliance leads Otago Sparks past Auckland Hearts into women's Super Smash final
By Alex Powell
A dominant showing with the bat from captain Suzie Bates has led Otago Sparks to the final of the women's Super Smash, defeating Auckland Hearts by 29 runs at Dunedin's University Oval.
Opening the batting for Otago in the elimination final, Bates struck a masterful 75 runs from 62 balls, complete with seven boundaries and one six. Across both sides' innings, the next best score was just 28 not out to Auckland's Arlene Kelly.
Otago will meet tabletoppers Wellington Blaze in the Saturday afternoon final.
Winning the toss and batting first, Bates led from the front in every sense of the word, bringing up her half-century from 43 balls, hitting five boundaries along the way.
The White Ferns batter scored most of Otago's runs, as the Sparks posted 143/5 from their 20 overs. Polly Inglis was the second-highest scorer, making 19.
Bates comfortably leads the runscoring list in this year's competition, plundering 501 at an average of 62.62, including five half-centuries and a best of 89 not out.
Molly Penfold finished as the pick of Auckland's bowlers, taking 2/27 from her four overs.
In response, the Hearts innings failed to fire, with only Kelly and Katie Perkins (24) passing 20.
Auckland lost regular wickets - including two runouts - to post 114/6 from their 20 overs, falling 29 runs short of the target.
Sophie Oldershaw shone with the ball for Otago, taking 2/17 from four overs, while Hayley Jensen also stood out, despite not taking a wicket, only conceding 11 runs from her spell.
Otago will bid for their first title since 2016/17 in Saturday's final, while the Blaze will hunt their fifth in four years, after Canterbury Magicians ended their run of three successive victories in 2021.
