A hugely improved performance and a great team effort secured a nail-biting win for SHCC!
Match report by Megan Maurice
SHCC U11 Blue Girls 106 def LWCC U11 Girls 102
The sun was out in full force at Blackmore Oval when the SHCC U11 Blue Girls team arrived for their game. With games starting at 2pm, our girl cricketers are often playing in very tough conditions and they rise to the challenge week after week.
Blue came into this game having been defeated by Leichhardt in the very first game of the season. That time, many of the team were playing their very first game of cricket and had not had much training either. They put out a valiant effort, but Leichhardt's experience saw them to victory. This time SHCC Blue was determined to demonstrate their improved skills and tactics.
After consulting with her team, Captain Lydia concluded that everyone was keen to get their bowling innings done first, in case the heat turned up even more, unfortunately Leichhardt won the bat flip and had the same idea, so it was in to bat for SHCC.
The opening pair of Tilly (12) and Pia (11) got SHCC off to a flyer. Tilly's speed between the wickets and ability to find the gaps in the field, combined with Pia's strokeplay created a brilliant partnership. They were able to run multiple twos and threes and each hit a four during their innings.
The team's youngest players, Leah and Captain Lydia, came in next and showed that they could mix it with the older girls, despite being only eight years old. They ran plenty of byes through great awareness and calling and defended their wicket strongly.
Next in were Eva (3) and Ellie (2), who kept the score ticking over, taking the opportunities when they came and getting plenty of bat on ball. They both played some beautiful shots and frustrated the Leichhardt bowlers with their ability to play defensive and attacking shots.
The final two were Eleanor and Chelsie, who are developing a formidable partnership. Their calling was excellent and they took every opportunity that came their way. Chelsie finished with her top score of eight runs, finding gaps in the field with ease. Eleanor was a menace to the opposition, backing up strongly to make the run to the danger end time after time and getting through for every bye available.
Having scored only six runs off the bat in the previous game against Leichhardt, the team this time finished with 36 runs off the bat, for the loss of only one wicket during their innings, in a hugely improved performance. There was plenty of confidence going into the bowling innings.
Chelsie opened the bowling, picking up where she left off with the bat, with a strong first over. Captain Lydia also demonstrated her improved bowling, getting the ball further down the pitch each week and focusing on bowling strong and straight. Eleanor was solid in wicket keeper, tracking the ball wherever it went and getting her body behind it to cut off the byes.
Eva - ever reliable with the ball - got the first breakthrough of the game in the sixth over, completely bamboozling Leichhardt's strongest batter and clean bowling her. That was followed up a couple of balls later with a run out by Tilly, who showed her speed across the ground to beat the batter to the stumps and throw them down.
Next over, Tilly was in the game again with an excellent wicket taking out middle stump. The team came close to snaring another wicket with Pia charging in to come so close to a screamer of a catch off Ellie's bowling - unfortunately it just bobbled out at the last second after a brilliant effort to get her hands to it.
On the last ball before drinks, Leah added to the team's wicket tally, sneaking a ball under the bat to send the bails flying and triumphantly yelling "WICKET!"
The team was feeling confident and proud of their efforts during the break and after some much needed cooling down from the misting fan (thanks to Eleanor's dad Jarrod, the team kit manager, for bringing that along and saving the day!) they were back out on the field.
Eleanor handed the gloves over to Chelsie, who kept up the strong work behind the stumps, diving for everything and severely limiting the number of byes Leichhardt could run. The last time the two teams met, Leichhardt ran 10 byes to SHCC's two. This game it was SHCC with 16 byes, which Leichhardt only managed to find four, which came down to very strong keeping by both Eleanor and Chelsie.
Wickets were harder to come by in the second half of the bowling innings, with the heat beginning to take its toll. However the team remained focused and determined, with some excellent fielding efforts, led by Tilly who continued chase down everything, diving to cut the ball off and stopping plenty of runs.
Just as Leichhardt's score was creeping up, Eleanor provided the breakthrough required with an excellent bowled dismissal, which lifted the team and ensured everyone was pumped up going into the final overs.
Pia emulated her cricket hero Hannah Darlington with some excellent bowling at the death, restricting Leichhardt through consecutive dot balls and twice missing the off stump bail by less than a centimetre, to keep SHCC in the game.
It all came down to the final over - Leichhardt needed six runs to tie and seven to win. Ellie bowled tightly, but Leichhardt were running on everything, desperate to secure the win. An unfortunate four overthrows nearly threw a spanner in the works, but SHCC reeled it back and the scores were level with one ball remaining. Ellie bowled a good line and length and the batter wasn't able to get bat on ball. The non-striker called her through for a bye, but Chelsie had pounced on the ball behind the stumps and calmly threw them down, securing the run out, the four bonus runs for a wicket and the win for SHCC.
Coach Shaun was incredibly proud of the girls' efforts - particularly the huge improvement shown from the previous game against this team. Chelsie was named the player of the match for her strong batting, bowling and keeping - including that vital final run out. The whole team played brilliantly and really showed the importance of playing as a team, supporting each other and staying positive.
The parent support on the sidelines was another highlight of the game, with so much enthusiasm and positive cheering. Thanks to Rhys (Lydia's dad) who made his scoring debut and absolutely nailed it, Lily (Leah's mum) for providing the team snacks this week and Siobhan (Tilly's mum) who made a hero's entrance with ice blocks for the team at the end of the game, which were very much needed and deserved!