By Lachlan Onions
NARACOORTE 7/97 d MIL LEL 3/83
NARACOORTE opened its South East women’s T20 cricket season in style with a 14-run win at home against the Mil Lel Cricket Club.
The visitors won the toss and elected to send Naracoorte into bat first, which payed dividends early on.
Mil Lel’s Victoria Radley used the new ball to its fullest and claimed the first scalp of the season after she bowled opener Sile Legoe for three runs.
However, a number of extras from the bowlers meant Erika Watson and Kathryn Vine were able to steady the ship and build a partnership.
Shortly after, Vine was dismissed for 10 after she was caught off the bowling of Jaimee Smith.
The innings threatened to derail when Jane Gaussen was bowled by Chloe Miller for just the solitary run which left Naracoorte at 3-42.
However, Sharnna Mansell, Sue Lawrence and Lauren Smart all provided handy contributions to keep the runs flowing for the hosts.
Madeline Burley picked up a couple of late wickets to end the inning and was the pick of the bowlers with 3/10 off two overs, while Radley was Mil Lel’s most economical bowler with 1/4 from two overs.
With 98 runs needed to win, Georgia Little and Radley formed a strong opening partnership in response.
Radley scored four boundaries on the way to 24 runs off 30 deliveries, meanwhile Little scored 18 runs off 49 balls.
However, the visitors needed to increase their run-rate when Miller and Lydia Megaw took mark at the crease.
After Naracoorte’s bowlers toiled during the opening partnership, they soon reaped the reward late in the inning.
Miller was dismissed for three off the bowling of Watson to make it 1/72.
With the pressure on, Megaw was dismissed shortly after by Ella Boston to make it 2/76, which left the visitors with plenty of work to do.
Smith was run out by Anna McGregor and the hosts had victory in their sights.
After Mil Lel was 0/72, Naracoorte turned the game around to make it 3/76 and the away side was unable to chase down the required runs.
McGregor was pivotal for Naracoorte with the ball as she kept things tidy and conceded just 10 runs off her four overs.
Watson ended with figures of 1/4, while Boston was next-best with 1/5.
NORTH SPORTSMANS 4/110 d BORDERTOWN 5/71
Economical bowling from North Sportsmans provided a solid platform for the Tigers to claim a victory from their road trip to Bordertown on Sunday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the hosts looked to see out the early stages of the new ball before setting a competitive total.
However, Alysha Coon made an early breakthrough after she caught and bowled Linda Schneider.
With the hosts 1/7, Hayley Twigden and Georgina Buick steadied the ship and relieved the pressure from the hosts.
This was until Twigden was dismissed by Layla McPherson after she also took a catch of her own bowling to make it 2/46, which sparked a middle-order collapse.
After an impressive 21 from Buick, which included two fours and one six, she also succumbed to the bowling of McPherson and Bordertown were 3-48.
McPherson soon took her third wicket of the game when Courtney Twigden was caught by Fiona Young.
Kate Mitchell soon got in on the action to make it 5/60, which left Emily Schultz and Ada Blackwell at the crease to try and cease the Tigers’ momentum.
The pair remained not out at the end of the 20 overs but were restricted to a combined three runs off 40 deliveries.
Coon and Layla McPherson were the pick of the bowlers as the former ended the inning with 1/9 off of four overs and the latter 3/15.
With just 72 runs needed to claim a Round 1 victory, the Tigers were in a strong position to claim victory after some impressive bowling.
Buick took the first wicket of the inning to make it 1/38.
Shortly after, Layla McPherson was run out for eight and the visitors were 2/43 and Bordertown found itself back in the contest.
However, a number of extras from the bowlers and an exciting cameo from Young meant the Tigers comfortably reached its target with time to spare.
After batters retired not out, Bridie McPherson and Carey Grivell found themselves out in the middle.
Grivell was unable to add any runs for her side as she was run out for a duck, which made it 3/101.
Jasmyn Plew-Jones was next to go after she was run out by Schultz without facing a ball.
The Tigers ended their innings with a solid 110 runs to claim a strong victory to start their season.
Naracoorte and Bordertown will be at home again this Sunday, with North Sportsmans taking on Naracoorte and Mil Lel facing Bordertown.
