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The New Zealand Community Trust Girls’ Cricket Cup got underway today at Manawaroa Park, Palmerston North. This year’s finals, the 18th in the history of the event, see the eight top secondary school teams square off over four days.
The contenders have managed to knock out 120 other schools along to reach the finals with six sides winning competitions within their Major Association along with the runners-up of the two associations with the most entries.
This year the Twenty20 format has been adopted with one full round of play deciding the overall winner.
Results from Day 1:
Game 1 (morning): Matches abounded due inclement weather.
Game 2 (afternoon):
St Mary’s College v to Hillcrest High School
St Mary’s College won the toss and decided to bat first at Wallace Park and soon found themselves on the back foot after losing regular wickets. Bowlers Courtney Currie and Heidi Arndt picked up two apiece each while Felicity Leydon-Davis had a good day in the field taking three catches and delivering three maidens from her four overs.
While Nicola Trott showed resilience with the bat, St Mary’s struggled to form partnerships and were dismissed in the 20th over for 50 runs.
In reply, St Mary’s managed picked up a wicket in the second over but Hillcrest never looked under any pressure and cruised to victory in the tenth over. Arndt again starred, scoring 14 in the run chase.
St Mary’s College 50 all out (C. Curry 2-8 , H . Arndt 2-5) LOST to Hillcrest High School 51/4
Wanganui Collegiate v to Christchurch Girls High School
Wanganui Collegiate won the toss and elected to bat at Hokowhitu Park but is was Christchurch GHS made the perfect start with the ball, picking up three quick wickets to have Wanganui Collegiate struggling at ten for three. Wanganui found their way with a partnership of 56 between Georgie Blackwood and Pippa Norman. It only came to an end when Hana Mauafu took a stunning catch to dismiss Norman for 26.
In reply Christchurch Girls made short work of chasing down the total, reaching the required runs thanks to a quick fire 19 by Ann MacKechnie and a solid 31 not out from Emma Hartland. Christchurch Girls managed to bring up the winning runs in just the 12th over.
Wanganui Collegiate 67/4 ( P. Norman 26) LOST to Christchurch Girls High School 68/2 (E. Hartland 31*)
St Hilda’s Collegiate v St Kentigern College
Caitlin Blakely and Polly Inglis got St Hilda’s off to an aggressive start before St Kentigern made a break through, dismissing Inglis for 13. This bought Olivia Waldron to the crease, who batted sensibly with Blakely and put on 46 for the second wicket. St Kentigern slowed things down by picking up five wickets in the last four overs with St Hilda’s working their way to 107 for six.
St Kentigern made a solid start with an opening partnership of 32 between Clare Mains and Francesca Wilkinson. But St Hilda’s consistently bowled tight lines and the run rate continued to climb. Wilkinson looked to be in complete control at the crease before top edging one to the keeper. This was a crucial wicket for St Hilda’s and they ended up restricting St Kentigern College to 88 for five.
St Hilda’s Collegiate 107/6 ( C. Blakely 32, O. Waldron 21*) BEAT St Kentigern College 88/5 (F. Wilkinson 31)
Westlake Girls’ High School v Palmerston North Girls’ High School
Winning the toss, Palmerston North Girls’ High School decided to make the most of the humid conditions and sent Westlake in to bat.
Some tidy bowling meant Westlake struggled to get runs early, but to their credit didn’t lose a wicket until the 11th over.
PNGHS then picked up regular wickets and restricted Westlake to 64 for five.
Alex Lowrie was the pick of the batters as she hit 22 runs. Strike bowler Sarah Power finished with two wickets for PNGHS.
In reply PNGHS comfortably chased down Westlakes total with a great unbeaten partnership of 55 between Hannah Rowe and Sarah Green. A pleasing victory on the first of four days of competition.
64/5 (A. Lowrie 22, S. Power 2-17) LOST to PNGHS 65/1 (H. Rowe 32*)
