Women T20 Cricket: In a match of Women’s Super Smash 2025-26, Otago Sparks easily defeated Canterbury Magicians by 6 wickets. In this match, Australian batsman Laura Harris did wonders as soon as she made her debut for Otago and wreaked havoc on the opposing bowlers.

Batting first, Canterbury scored 145 runs losing 6 wickets in 20 overs. Izzy Sharp’s innings of 65 runs was the main score for the team, but the rest of the batsmen could not contribute much.

Otago team, which set out to chase, achieved the target in just 14.5 overs, in which Laura Harris played the most important role. He scored 52 runs in just 17 balls, which included 6 fours and 4 huge sixes. The most important thing is that Laura completed her half-century in just 15 balls. With this feat she equaled the record for the joint-fastest fifty in women’s T20 cricket, which was previously held by Mary Kelly (for Warwickshire against Gloucestershire in 2022).

Interestingly, all 6 of Laura’s T20 fifties have come in less than 20 balls – a feat not achieved by any other female player. Thanks to his explosive innings, Otago maintained a high scoring rate and also got the first bonus point of the season (for having 1.25 times the opposition run rate in the chase under the new rule). For this brilliant performance, Laura was chosen Player of the Match.

Sydney Thunder had a disappointing season in the WBBL recently, scoring just 69 runs in 10 matches. But as soon as he entered Super Smash, he made a tremendous comeback in form.

Felicity Leyden-Davies and Caitlin Blakely’s 22 runs each and Polly English’s 20 runs also proved useful in Otago’s victory. For Canterbury, Melissa Banks and Sarah Asmussen took one wicket each. The win gave Otago a strong start to the tournament and led them on the table with the bonus point.