Castlemaine and District Cricket Association’s U16 girls are celebrating after claiming the Western Victoria Girls Cup in Hamilton.
Going into the carnival with little expectation of winning many games, the girtls were determined to enjoy themselves and try to record a new personal best.
Throughout the week, the opening partnership of Kirra Tabet and SammyBrasher was excellent. In three of the six games they recorded over 50 runs for the opening stand. Ebony Penny and Fianna Gardiner had productive carnivals and were positive in their run scoring in the middle order.
They were well supported by Laura Smolak with her best score in cricket ever. With the ball, the team was led by the pace bowling of the ever-accurate Fianna Gardiner (7 wickets), well supported by Jessie Francis (4 wickets) and Kirra Tabet (4 wickets). The Spinners Sammy Brasher (4 wickets) and Emma Smolak (2 wickets) chipped in with important overs and claimed some crucial scalps.
Everson Kneebone bowled the final overs of the game and performed to a very high standard. There was great support from Grace Smith, Elsa Curran and Martha Gross with a combination of some tight overs, wickets, catches and run outs.
The first of the five rounds of T20 matches was against Hamilton. In a match marred by a lightning storm, Castlemaine recorded a surprise win against the local team by 30 runs. This was followed by nail-biting wins in both game two against Ballarat and game three against Geelong by 14 runs both times.
Colac soundly beat the girls with 10 overs to spare in round four and the final round win over Warrnambool on the Thursday morning meant Castlemaine went into the final against Colac on top of the ladder.
All the hard work and support was needed to be competitive in the Grand Final. After winning the toss and batting, Castlemaine amassed a strong total of 1/123. The highlight of the innings was Sammy Brasher hitting 19 off the final over to finish the innings 73 not out off 63 balls. In reply, Colac’s innings got off to a flyer. With a strong opening pair, Colac took 20 off the first two overs.
Castlemaine fought back claiming important wickets to have the game in the balance with Colac 2/40 off six overs. Consistent loss of wickets allowed Castlemaine to slow the scoring but Colac kept the scoreboard ticking over. The final result was a win to Castlemaine by 17 runs with best figures in the final to Jessie Francis 3/13, Fianna Gardiner 2/21, Kirra Tabet 2/27 with a special mention to Everson Kneebone for her last over of the game.
The team worked for each other over the carnival and received just rewards for their efforts. They were fantastic ambassadors for the CDCA and this sets the girls up for a successful second half of the season.
