Katey Martin’s dogged effort with the bat has maintained Otago’s slim playoff prospects.
The vastly experienced wicketkeeper-batsman guided Otago to a four-wicket win against Auckland in a one-day match at Lincoln last week with a determined and undefeated knock of 75 from 86 deliveries.
The Sparks (11 points) are in fourth place and can still sneak into the final but they have some catching up to do.
Canterbury (28 points) is undefeated with six wins from six games. Auckland (19) and Wellington (18) are jostling for second place, while Northern Districts (four) and Central Districts (two) fill the bottom two places and are out of the reckoning.
The Sparks host Northern Districts in a twenty20 match at the University Oval today and back-to-back one-dayers at the same venue tomorrow and on Wednesday.
While the Sparks retain a mathematical chance of reaching the twenty20 final, their prospects in the one-day competition are stronger.
Two wins against Northern Districts will help Otago heap pressure on the leading sides.
"ND have a few quality players but we do want to beat them and pick up a couple of bonus points," Martin said.
"We play Wellington in the last round, so that is going to be quite vital. We’ll have Suzie [Bates] and Morna [Nielsen] back for that round, so it is really important to pick up two wins, which will put us in a position where we still have a chance [going into the last round]."
Martin is the leading scorer in the one-day tournament with 307 runs at an average of 76.75. She scored her fourth one-day hundred in the dramatic two-run loss in Lincoln on December 28. She was run out with an over remaining and with the Sparks in sight of victory.
But Martin was not going to be foiled twice in a row and she returned the next day to post a half century and steer her side to victory.
"I seem to have found a bit of a purple patch, which is nice. Without Suzie, there is a bit more responsibility on my shoulders."
Bates and Nielsen are playing in the Australian Big Bash League and have left a large void in the side. Martin has been captaining the side in Bates’ absence and has really flourished with the bat.
The 31-year-old has been a mainstay in the batting line-up for more than a decade but has always had Bates alongside her to help carry the load.
Leigh Kasperek is the other class batsman in the side, while Caitlin Blakely, Millie Cowan and Victoria Holden have all played valuable knocks this season.
Northern Districts rely heavily on classy right-hand batsman Natalie Dodd. The 24-year-old White Fern has scored 246 runs at an average of 41 this season and shapes as the most obvious threat. All-rounder Samantha Curtis is another player whose wicket the Sparks will prize highly.
Women’s twenty
20Otago v Northern Districts
University Oval, today, 2pm
Otago Sparks: Caitlin Blakely, Katey Martin (captain), Polly Inglis, Leigh Kasperek, Megan Gibbs, Millie Cowan, Victoria Holden, Beth Langston, Georgia Clarke, Kate Heffernan, Ella Brown, Olivia Gain, Emma Black.
Northern Districts (possible): Natalie Dodd, Katie Gurrey, Samantha Curtis, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Brooke Halliday, Kerry Tomlinson, Kate Anderson, Nensi Patel, Kari Carswell, Katie McGill, Tayla Hollis, Alisha Rout.
