Four games.
Four wins.
Four bonus points.
And the defending champions welcome back veteran White Fern Suzie Bates for their home fixtures against Northern Districts in Dunedin this weekend.
It should be a slam dunk.
But this is cricket we are talking about.
The game is bonkers. Almost anything can happen and often does.
But Polly Inglis, who recently brought up her 100th list A game for the side, is thrilled with how the team is tracking.
"To be able to start off as we have has been awesome," the wicketkeeper-batter said.
The Sparks have won two Hallyburton Johnstone Shield titles in the past three years, and that gives them a solid base to work from in terms of confidence, Inglis said.
The team knows how to win games, and they expect to win as well. That has not always been the case in the past, when often the emphasis was on being competitive.
"I think we’ve definitely gained a lot of confidence but you can’t underestimate the amount of work we’ve done over the winter as well, particularly this year."
Cricket skills are always a strong focus but the Sparks are also putting a lot of time into improving their strength and conditioning.
"We’ve worked bloody hard and have been in the Edgar [Centre] for quite a few hours. Our confidence has grown but we’ve got to know our game really well as well."
It helps when the top order is scoring runs too.
Bella James leads all scorers with 246 runs at an average of 82. Caitlin Blakely (155 at 51.66) is the fifth-leading scorer and Felicity Robertson (127 at 42.33) is tenth and has made a solid start as well.
New recruit Anna Browning has made a positive impact with her off-breaks, snapping up eight wickets at an average of 12.87, while Louisa Kotkamp, Hayley Jensen and Eden Carson have six wickets apiece without going for many runs as well.
"I’m pretty happy to sit back an watch the top order go about their work," Inglis said.
She was the second-leading scorer in the competition last season with 324 runs at average of 54, and was rewarded with a national contract this year.
"To be able to fully concentrate on cricket has certainly helped. It makes it pretty enjoyable to focus solely on it."
The Sparks have made just one change to the team which won back-to-back games against Wellington at the University Oval two weeks ago.
Bates replaces Saffron Wilson. The World Cup winner has been playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in Big Bash League in Australia.
Hallyburton Johnstone Shield
University Oval, today and tomorrow, 10.30am
Otago: Suzie Bates, Bella James, Caitlin Blakely, Felicity Robertson (captain), Polly Inglis, Olivia Gain, Hayley Jensen, Anna Browning, Eden Carson, Emma Black, Chloe Deerness, Louisa Kotkamp.
Northern Districts (possible): Tash Wakelin, Yazmeen Kareem, Caitlin Gurrey, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Jess Watkin (captain), Nensi Patel, Eve Wolland, Holly Topp, Carol Agafili, Marama Downes, Shriya Naidu, Skye Bowden, Jesse Prasad.
