Friday saw six T20 matches played across two rounds in the Under-15 Female National Championships in Western Sydney.
The morning’s matches saw victories to Victoria, the ACT and South Australia, while Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales posted wins later in the afternoon.
ROUND THREE
Round 3 on Friday kicked off with Victoria beating defending champions Queensland, 6/108 to 7/67. Victorian bowlers Sophie Molineux (2-3 off 3 overs) and Georgia Wareham (2-7 of 4 overs) skittled through the Queensland batters, with opener Georgia Hendy (19) the best for Queensland. Sophie Molineux continued her great day with a composed 20, while fellow opener Makinley Blows (19) helped steer the team to victory. Bronte Watson (2-13 off 3 overs) was the only multiple wicket-taker for Queensland.
South Australia also recorded a strong win over Tasmania in the morning, posting 5/120 in reply to 9/55. South Australia put together two significant partnerships at the top of the order, led by openers Eliza Doddridge (26) and Annie O'Neil (25). Jane Riley (2-25 off 4 overs) was the only multiple wicket-taker for Tasmania. In reply, South Australian bowler Shae Daly (5-12 off 4 overs) inflicted early damage and Tasmania was unable to put their innings back on track.
To finish off Round 3, the ACT chased down Western Australia’s 3/84 to complete a comprehensive win, finishing 5/108 from their 20 overs. Brooke Williamson (42) led the way for Western Australia, while ACT opening bowler Naomi McDonald ended up with strong figures of 1-3 off 4 overs. But ACT’s opening partnership batted well and passed WA’s total only 1 wicket down. The best of the WA bowlers was Kayla Tebbutt, who finished with figures of 2-10 off 4 overs.
ROUND FOUR
Round 4 saw South Australia record their second victory for the day, posting 6/125 to defeat Victoria 11/106. It was Victoria’s first loss for the tournament and a crucial clash that could decide who might meet NSW in the final. A great knock by South Australian opening batter Eliza Doddridge (42 off 38 balls) was supported by South Australian bowlers Tait Mackrill (4-22 from 4 overs) and Kelly Armstrong (3-9 off 3 overs) in the second innings.
Tournament favourites NSW continued their dominance with a strong win over the ACT, 4/148 to 6/94. Young NSW star Amy Edgar (91) led the way as the ACT struggled to take wickets. After losing a couple of early wickets, the ACT were never in the hunt chasing down the big total. Sarah Seckold-McIntyre (28) top scored for the ACT, while Saskia Horley was NSW’s standout bowler (2-16 off 4 overs).
To finish Round 4, Tasmania scored a nail-biting victory to beat Queensland with two balls to spare. Queensland won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 6/113 thanks to the batting efforts of Eliza Flynn (32) & Jordan Russell (19) in particular. But Tasmania’s Demi-May Rooke (41) and Caitlyn Webster (41) put on a 65-run partnership to set up Tasmania’s first ever victory in the Under 15 Championship.
First Posted 03 December, 2012 4:02PM AEST
