The Sparks' hard-hitting Aussie import Laura Harris has made an immediate impact in the team's first Super Smash game of the season - by equalling the women's world T20 record for the quickest half century!
Know for her attacking style, Harris went ballistic on Sparks debut in Alexandra this afternoon, smashing her half ton off just 15 balls in an entertaining chase.
That equals the world mark that was set by Marie Kelly for Warwickshire versus Gloucestershire in 2022.
Harris, the mega-experienced Queenslander, was instrumental in a big win for the Sparks hosts, going on to 52 off just 17 rocks before she was caught on the boundary.
It wasn't even the first time she has put on a fireworks display in New Zealand.
She also smashed 67 off 27 balls for the Wellington Blaze in early 2023, but her Molyneux Park fifty took just 23 whirlwind minutes to celebrate, and she also scored a 16-ball T20 fifty for Warwickshire earlier this year.
That knock was just six days after landing in the UK to take part in the Vitality Blast, and the joint-third fastest half-century in women's T20 history (17 balls).
It featured six fours and four sixes, all but two of those runs coming in boundaries and it meant the Sparks were in a great position to chase down the Canterbury Magicians' decent tally of 145/6 - which they went on to do in just 14.5 overs.
The Sparks beat the Magicians by six wickets - and become the first women's team to pick up a bonus point, under the new women's competition points system introduced this month.
The Sparks fly to the head of the table as a result.
The game was the first of the two back-to-back Super Smash doubleheader events in the Central Otago holiday hotspot of Alexandra for the Sparks and Volts hosts, with the Sparks' next game coming up on Tuesday (30 December) against the Central Hinds who meanwhile suffered a defeat against reigning champs, Melie Kerr's Wellington Blaze, who hit the ground running in Palmerston North yesterday.
Catch every ball live and free in New Zealand on TVNZ+ and TVNZ Duke, with livescoring at www.nzc.nz
Ink it in the diary, all the Grand Finals this season will be at Hagley Oval in Christchurch this season:
- 2025/26 Elimination Finals 30 January 2026
- 2025/26 Grand Finals 31 January 2026
