u11 Girls Match Report : Megan Maurice
Round 5: Summer Hill Gold 110 def Summer Hill Blue 86
Rainy weather at 2pm on Saturday was no deterrent for the two very determined U11 Girls teams who came together for their first local derby. After much discussion at training about how they would be able to tell their teammates apart from the opposition, their coaches were eventually able to reassure them that this not an issue in cricket and the game was able to go ahead without any last minute costume changes.
The day began with Captain Mia winning the toss for the Blue team and electing to bowl. Chelsie and Ellie opened the batting for Gold, putting on a determined stand to open the match strongly. It was a hard fought battle between bat and ball, with the Blue bowlers performing well and not letting many runs through, but the Gold batters protecting their stumps and not allowing wickets to fall. The first breakthrough came in the seventh over, with Srishti taking her second wicket for the season in just her fourth game of cricket with a beautiful ball that crashed through to the stumps. From there, Blue were able to take four more wickets - Amali also bowled an incredible delivery to beat the bat and there were three run outs - one from Phoebe and two from Rosie.
Kavya top scored for the Gold team, with 12 runs, with Adelaide (9) and Ivy-Jane (5) also boosting the score late in the innings. Captain Eva (2), Ellie (2) and Kyah (1) also kept the score ticking over throughout the innings and were quick on their feet to run the byes and support their batting partners. Gold took a total of 82 runs into their bowling innings.
It was a strong start for the innings with Kavya opening the bowling with a wicket maiden. However the Blue openers Pia and Srishti recovered well and picked up where they left off with their successful opening partnership the week before and worked on keeping the ball out. Gold's bowling was excellent however and it was hard to keep them out of the game for long. Chelsie and Ivy-Jane took two wickets each, while Kavya and Kyah each got a run out and Adelaide and Ivy-Jane both took sensational catches.
The Blue team stood up and kept persisting - Tilly top scored with 11, while Rosie (8), Captain Mia (7), Amali (6), Phoebe (2) and Pia (1) showed so much grit and determination to continue getting bat on ball and dashing through as quickly as they could to build their total.
However, in the end it was the Gold team who emerged victorious and Captain Eva lifted the SHCC Cup. Gold's terrific bowling took their total to 110 and despite the best efforts of the Blue team, they fell slightly short with a total of 86. It was a fantastic game, played in great spirit and all the parents were very proud of the great skill, teamwork and determination showed by both teams.