The 27^th match of the Women’s Super Smash T20 will be played between Otago Sparks and Auckland Hearts at the Eden Park Outer Oval, Auckland.

Live Scores and Stats - Otago Sparks v Auckland Hearts - Match 27

 

Otago Sparks are stranded at the lowest position on points table with only 2 wins to their belt in 7 games played so far.

In their last encounter against Wellington Blaze, Otago Women lost the toss and were invited to field first. The first innings was completely dominated by the Wellington batters headed by Sophie Devine. The captain herself made a phenomenal 80 off 44 deliveries and her impact earlier in the innings was capitalized in the middle overs by Amelia Kerr who smashed 66 off 43 deliveries. On the back of these scintillating knocks, Wellington Blaze managed to post a mammoth total of 196 on board in their 20 overs. Sophie Oldershaw was the pick of the bowlers for Otago Women as she returned with the figures of 24 for 2 in her spell.

Chasing 196, Otago Sparks lost Millie Cowan and Katey Martin early on in the innings and could not fully utilize the powerplay overs. Thereafter, Polly Inglis and Caitlin Blakely tried to revive the chase but both fell within the 11^th over. At this point of time, the scorecard read 63 for 5. There was no come back by Otago Women post that as they lost wickets in quick succession to Xara Jetly who bowled a superb spell of 9 for 4 in her 3 overs. As a result, Otago Sparks were bundled out for 74 and could not play their 20 overs losing the match by a huge margin of 122 runs.

Auckland Hearts on the other hand have reached the number 3 spot on points table with their recent win over Northern Spirit. After losing the toss, Auckland Hearts were asked to field first. Arlene Kelly bowled beautiful lines to keep the batters quiet over a period in the powerplay overs. Kate Anderson was dismissed within the powerplay overs and Katie Gurrey along with Brooke Halliday in quick succession within the 12 over mark. There was no real momentum into the innings of Northern Spirit and they were struggling to put the ball to boundary. Fran Jonas shook the middle order and claimed two important wickets to peg Northern Women even further. In the end, they managed to score only 108 in their 20 overs.

Auckland Hearts did not really experience a smooth start as they lost their openers as well as number 3 within the 8^th over. When Northern Women seemed to be exerting pressure on to Auckland, Katie Perkins and Holly Huddleston combined to put on a match winning stand of 44 runs for the 4^th wicket and got their team out of trouble. Katie Perkins scored 45 runs while Holly Huddleston made an unbeaten 29 to take her team home by 6 wickets with 11 balls to spare.

 

Leading Run Scorers:

Katie Perkins is the leading run scorer for Auckland Hearts with 192 runs to her name in 7 matches.

Polly Inglis is the leading run scorer for Otago Sparks with 184 runs to her belt in 7 games so far.

 

Leading Wicket Takers:

Holly Huddleston is the leading wicket taker for Auckland Hearts with 11 wickets up her sleeve.

 

Let us have a look at the squads:

Otago Sparks

Gemma Adams, Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Millie Cowan, Bhagya Herath, Polly Inglis, Bella James (c), Marina Lamplough, Sophie Oldershaw, Suzie Bates, Hayley Jensen, Katey Martin, Eden Carson, Megan Meltzer, Saffron Wilson, Sophie Gray, Olivia Gain and Molly Loe.

 

Auckland Hearts

Bella Armstrong, Fran Jonas, Jane Barnett, Skye Bowden, Sarah Carnachan (WK), Lauren Down, Izzy Gaze, Tariel Lamb (WK), Regina Lilii (C), Roz McNeill, Molly Penfold, Saachi Shahri, Holly Huddleston, Amie Hucker, Yaz Kareem, Arlene Kelly, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Jesse Prasad and Natasha van Tilburg

 

 Cricket Betting Tips and Match Predictions* - PrePlay

 

Who will win the toss? – Otago Sparks

Who will win? – Auckland Hearts

Top Batsman (Runs Scored) – Polly Inglis (Otago Sparks), Katie Perkins (Auckland Hearts)

Top Bowler (Wickets taken) –Eden Carson (Otago Sparks), Arlene Kelly (Auckland Hearts)

Most Sixes – Polly Inglis (Otago Sparks), Katie Perkins (Auckland Hearts)

Player of the Match- Arlene Kelly (Auckland Hearts)

Team Scores Batting first – Auckland Hearts 140+, Otago Sparks 115+

Match Handicap- Auckland Hearts

 

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*NB these predictions may be changed nearer the start of the match once the final starting teams have been announced and we will be running ‘In-Play’ features, so stay tuned.

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