Suzie Bates, Hayley Jensen dominate Otago Cricket Association awards for 2019-20

Suzie Bates, the New Zealand cricketer and Otago Sparks star, bagged major awards in the Otago Cricket Association awards for 2019-20 season. The OCA Players Awards for the 2019-20 season, which was earlier postponed due to the pandemic outbreak, was announced on Friday (September 11).



Suzie Bates won the 'Otago Sparks Batsman of Year' award for her performance in the Super Smash tournament last year.



The veteran all-rounder was the leading run-scorer for Otago Sparks with 441 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 134.04. She played a vital in the Sparks' play-off campaign including a match-winning century against Northern Spirit last December. It was the first-ever women's Super Smash ton in the history of the tournament. She made 106 runs in 66 balls with the help of 15 boundaries.



The 32-year-old Sparks opener was also selected as the 'Fans Cricketer of the Year' for the year by the Otago Cricket Association.



ALSO READ: The best I’ve seen the group train: Suzie Bates on New Zealand’s preparation for the series against Australia



Hayley Jensen was named as the 'Otago Sparks Cricketer of Year' for her astonishing performance in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield. She amassed 233 runs in just five matches at an average of 58.25 and took eight wickets at 15.75. She also took seven wickets giving away just 6.33 runs per over in the Super Smash T20 tournament.



Medium-pacer Emma Black won the 'Otago Sparks Bowler of Year' award for her performance in both the 50-over and T20 tournaments. She took her wicket tally to 20 this season with 10 in each format.



Meanwhile, Bella James was named as the 'Fielder of the year' as she took more catches (9) than anyone else across formats in Otago Sparks in the 2019-20 season.



Young cricketers Caitlin Blakley & Sophie Oldershaw were selected for the 'Perseverance and Resilience' award for the year 2019-20.