But Craig Cumming thinks the Otago Sparks learned plenty from a dramatic victory at the University Oval on Saturday.
The Sparks, defending a solid total of 245 for nine, held their nerve to clinch a two-run win on the final ball against the Central Hinds in a Hallyburton Johnstone Shield thriller.
"That was really exciting," Cumming said.
"Whenever you go 100 overs and it goes down to the last ball, that’s what you want and that’s how you really develop cricket teams.
"We were really good in stages, and in other stages we were perhaps a little bit average.
"That’s where we are. We’re still a very young team.
"But to be on the right side of this game was good.
"I was really pleased with the character we showed."
After being sent in to bat, the Sparks set a tidy platform when Kate Ebrahim and Caitlin Blakely added 66 for the second wicket.
Ebrahim was perhaps not completely in the zone on Saturday, but — wary of the conditions and the classy attack — she pushed on to 68 off a patient 115 balls to go past 4000 runs in list A cricket.
The impetus for the innings came firstly from Blakely, who cracked a breezy 29 off 30 before falling to Hinds bowler Monique Rees in a rather unusual over.
Rees lost her line completely, sending down six wides before dismissing Blakely, and following the wicket with two more wides.
Polly Inglis then gave the Sparks another lift when she scored 43 off 54 balls, and the tail also produced a couple of big blows to push the score up.
"Polly really played with authority," Cumming said.
"The other big thing for us was that we scored 35 runs in the last four overs with the last three batters."
In reply, the Hinds slumped to seven for two. Sparks opening bowler Emma Black claimed both openers, including the big wicket of Natalie Dodd.
Jess Watkin belted 50 off 56 balls and Mikaela Greig bashed 41 off 34, and the game was in the balance when Central needed 73 off 15 overs.
The Sparks were missing the injured Emma Black by this stage and needed someone to step up with the ball.
The rather unlikely hero was Blakely, who took a career-best four for 48 with what the coach described as "her right-arm legspin inswing drifters".
"I’m really pleased for Caitlin because she’s worked really hard," Cumming said.
"She has a really simple plan, and she makes the batters hit the ball."
Still, it went to the wire.
The Hinds needed 28 off 20 balls, and their final pairing of Melissa Hansen (14 off 16) and Claudia Green (13 off 12) gave it a fair crack, taking 10 runs off Blakely’s final over.
Hansen needed a boundary from Ebrahim’s final delivery of the game, but with the Sparks field up, her firm drive was only worth a single.
Otago’s fielding was particularly sharp at the end of the game, Cumming said.
Chloe Deerness took a screamer of a catch at point, and Gemma Adams pouched a difficult one on the boundary.
The Sparks do not play again until their doubleheader against the Blaze in Wellington on December 17-18.
OTAGO SPARKS
K Ebrahim c Dodd b Watkin 68
S Wilson c Watkin b Rowe 0
C Blakely c Dodd b Rees 29
F Leydon-Davis b Atkinson 14
P Inglis c Greig b Green 43
S Gray run out (Green) 16
E Carson lbw b Green 10
E Black c Dodd b Hansen 15
G Adams b Rowe 3
S Oldershaw not out 7
C Deerness not out 2
Extras (3lb, 35w)38
Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs)245
Fall: 1-11 (Wilson), 2-77 (Blakely), 3-122 (Leydon-Davis), 4-169 (Ebrahim), 5-206 (Gray), 6-206 (Inglis), 7-220 (Carson), 8-236 (Adams), 9-236 (Black).
Bowling: H Rowe 10-1-63-2 (6w), C Green 10-1-43-2 (6w), M Hansen 8-0-49-1 (2w), M Rees 2-0-20-1 (10w), J Watkin 10-0-29-1, G Atkinson 10-0-38-1.
CENTRAL HINDS
N Dodd b Black 7
C Pedersen b Black 0
J Watkin b Carson 50
K Tomlinson c Blakely b Deerness 21
M Greig c Carson b Blakely 41
H Rowe c Wilson b Blakely 38
K Gaging lbw b Carson 17
G Atkinson c Deerness b Blakely 15
M Rees c Adams b Blakely 5
M Hansen not out 14
C Green not out 13
Extras (4lb, 17w, 1nb) 22
Total (for 9 wickets, 50 overs) 243
Fall: 1-1 (Pedersen), 2-14 (Dodd), 3-85 (Watkin), 4-93 (Tomlinson), 5-164 (Greig), 6-189 (Rowe), 7-198 (Gaging), 8-215 (Atkinson), 9-218 (Rees).
Bowling: E Black 6-2-15-2, G Adams 6-0-29-0, K Ebrahim 10-0-40-0 (3w), E Carson 10-0-43-2 (3w, 1nb), C Deerness 4-0-24-1, S Oldershaw 2-0-22-0 (1w), S Wilson 2-0-18-0 (2w), C Blakely 10-1-48-4 (3w).
Result: Otago Sparks won by two runs.
