The National Under 21 women’s tournament was again disrupted by rain today but fortunately the Central Districts and Canterbury managed to squeeze in a full 50 over game with Central the eventual winners in the 49th over.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat things nearly turned ugly for Canterbury. Kayla Murray (15) and Hayley Jensen (16) gave Canterbury a solid platform to work from as they got their team to 25 for one, but a collapse would ensue with both dismissed in quick succession as Canterbury were then sent reeling to 69 for seven.
Central’s Kate Baxter tore through the middle order and made triple figures seem like a stretch for the batting side.
However Canterbury found some heroics from lower order batsmen Hannah Linton (26) and Emma Hartland (29) making sure that Canterbury would have a defendable total.
Thanks to the wag of the tail and 28 extras, Canterbury eventually posted a final score of 163 before being all-out in the 50th over.
Although they were all economical, Baxter was the best of the bowlers and ended with figures of four for 21 from 10 overs.
In reply, Canterbury made an important early break through snaring captain Hester Nesbitt for two.
That was as good as it got for them though thanks to a sensible batting display from the Wellington top-order. Maneka Singh (35) and Briar Cloake (38) put on 83 for the second wicket and put their side in a dominant position.
Their momentum continued with just about all batsmen getting starts and that was all that would be required. Canterbury picked up a couple of late wickets to make the scorecard look respectable, but Central in the end were convincing victors with three wickets in hand.
Hannah Jensen did all she could with the ball in hand, but it was in vain. Her figures ended up being two for 25 from ten overs.
