The Wellington Blaze have opened their Super Smash season with a comfortable 23-run win over the Otago Sparks at the Basin Reserve this afternoon.
The Sparks won the toss and opted to bowl in cloudy conditions in the capital, looking to get the jump on last year's runner-ups.
Wellington openers Rebecca Burns [20 runs] and Jessica McFadyen [14] made promising starts but both failed to carry on and alarm bells were ringing when Sparks pacer PJ Watkins nabbed Melie Kerr [7] and Leigh Kasperek [1] in the same over.
That saw Wellington reduced to 55/4 nearing the midway mark of their innings but there was still a key bat out there for the Blaze and the Sparks couldn't douse her.
Georgia Plimmer finished with an unbeaten 41 off 37 deliveries, getting some help from the middle and tail end of the order before Wellington eventually finished 140/8.
Otago got off to a positive start with their chase but it all began to unfurl when Jess Kerr removed skipper Suzie Bates for 25 runs in the sixth over, bowling her clean.
Fellow opener Bella James fell soon after, as did the next three wickets via some great bowling and fielding - including a run out - by Melie Kerr.
That exposed the second half of the Otago lineup and the final six batters fell for single digit totals, leaving Otago all out for 117 and 23 runs shy of the target.
The Kerr sisters finished with two wickets each while Kasperek had an impressive 3-25 from her four overs.
Watkins finished the best of the Otago bowlers with 4-28.
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