Round five of the Under-15 National Championships saw NSW send out a timely warning ahead of today’s Under-15 Championship finals in Western Sydney.
NSW trounced Queensland in the last round robin section of the U15 tournament yesterday in a rain-affected match, 12/136 to 11/77 from 28 overs. The middle order did the damage for NSW with Mikayla Hinkley (26) continuing her great form, while Lauren Cheatle (24) also chipped in. Bowler Jessica Carroll stood out for Queensland as she added to her tally for the championship with an impressive 4-21 off 5 overs. A flurry of wickets fell in Queensland’s run-chase, at one stage leaving them to be 4-8 with too much work to do. NSW again spread the wickets in their win with Saskia Horley, Lauren Cheatle and Danielle Armstrong all claiming two wickets each.
South Australia also continued their run of form in the tournament, with an impressive 4/187 to 9/118 win over Western Australia. Again the game was rain-reduced and South Australia’s Maddie Green (5-15 off 5 overs) caused headaches for the WA batters, but Brooke Williamson (33) and Meg Thompson’s (29) middle-order batting gave WA a respectable total to defend. But South Australia was up to the task, with last year’s Batter of the Tournament Tabatha Saville (55 from 27 balls) combining with Tait Mackrill (35) to overtake WA’s score easily.
In the last game for the round, the ACT recorded a strong win over Tasmania, 7/118 to 10/78. The match was reduced to 24 overs a side due to rain delays, so the game was always going to turn into a slog fest. The stand out for ACT was star batter Nina Westenraad with 48 from 45 balls, while Rhianne Hack was the best of the Tasmanian bowlers with 2-23 off her 4 overs. But a loss of early wickets made it hard for Tasmania to ever really threaten the ACT total. Rhianne Hack backed up her bowling efforts to post a well-made 22 runs to top score for Tasmania. Meanwhile, ACT opening bowler Naomi McDonald led the attack with 3-14 off 5 overs, while Mia Davidson chipped in with 2-5 off 3 overs.
First Posted 04 December, 2012 11:10AM AEST
