By Lachlan Onions
NORTH SPORTSMANS 4/79 d NARACOORTE 5/65
THE Tigers backed up their victory in Round 1 with an impressive win in Round 2 of the South East Female Cricket League.
Naracoorte won the toss and elected to bat first but struggled to pressure the visitors early on.
North captain Fiona Young claimed the first scalp to dismiss Lauren Smart for a duck.
Soon after, fellow opening batter, Sile Legoe was run out and the hosts were 2/8.
However, steady batting from Asha Hampton and Ella Boston helped prevent a batting collapse and withstood the impressive bowling from the visitors.
The Tigers could not dismiss the pair, but they did stop the flow of runs before Hampton and Boston retired not out.
Boston scored seven runs at a strike-rate of 17.5, while Hampton scored one run at a strike-rate of just 7.69.
It was this persistent, workhorse-like bowling which helped the visitors to eventually break through the middle order.
Charli Schroder was caught off the bowling of Alysha Coon for just three runs and Naracoorte were 3/54 with time running out to set a defendable total.
Sophie Clifton was the pick of the batters as she scored 10 runs and looked to take the game to the Tigers but she was bowled by Young.
Young rounded out a strong performance with the ball when she dismissed Erika Watson LBW to end with individual figures of 3/12 off four overs.
After managing to post just 65 runs batting first, the pressure was on the bowlers when the visitors took to the crease after the innings break.
Anna McGregor gave Naracoorte some hope of claiming an unlikely win when she took the first wicket of the inning to leave North at 1/7.
However, it was all in vain as Chelsea Gabriel, Laura Chester and Emma Braun all posted double-digit scores to guide the Tigers to victory.
Chester was the best of the bunch with 21* off 26 deliveries in an inning which included two boundaries.
Schroder took the important scalps of Braun and Gabriel but it was not enough.
Schroder claimed a third wicket when Jasmyn Plew-Jones got out by hit-wicket for two runs.
BORDERTOWN 1/160 d MIL LEL 3/108
The second clash of the weekend was a polar opposite of the first clash with runs flowing in both innings.
Both sides were eager to seal their first wins of the season and in the end it was Bordertown who claimed a 52-run victory on its home deck.
Mil Lel won the toss and elected to bat first in the hopes of applying scoreboard pressure for the second innings.
It was a positive start for the visitors as Jennifer Peterson and Victoria Radley combined to form a 43-run opening stand before Courtney Twigden bowled Peterson.
Radley was a force to be reckoned with and punished the Bordertown bowlers at every given chance.
She retired not out with an impressive score of 48 runs off just 31 deliveries.
Radley’s rapid-fire inning included four 4’s and four 6’s at unrivalled strike-rate of 154.83.
Julie Smith scored four runs before she was bowled by Lily Kennett to make it 2/75.
Madeline Burley and Niamh Leishman formed a solid partnership before the former was dismissed for nine runs off 33 balls by Sarah Robertson.
After scoring 108 runs off 20 overs, the pressure was on the hosts to chase down what could have been an imposing target.
However, Mil Lel was unable to trouble the Bordertown batters and was made to pay for a number of extras.
Hayley Twigden and Lily Kennett set the pace early with the former scoring 34 off 36 including six boundaries and the latter 28 off of 33 including four boundaries.
After nine overs, Bordertown was 0-77 and was well and truly on the way to claiming victory.
The pair retired not out, which meant Georgina Buick and Ada Blackwell went out into the middle.
Buick continued to keep the runs flowing with 19 runs of 18 balls, which included two 6’s.
After Buick and Blackwell retired, Mil Lel claimed its only wicket of the match when Courtney Twigden was stumped by Radley off the bowling of Peterson.
This wicket made it 1/147 late in the inning in what was a comprehensive performance with the bat from the hosts.
Bordertown’s dominant win moves it up to second on the ladder, behind North Sportsmans and ahead of Naracoorte and Mil Lel.
Round 3 will see Mil Lel host the Tigers, while Naracoorte will play host to Bordertown.
