Round One
Takapuna Grammar School 132-4 (A Browning 61, R Worrall 25) defeated Hutt Valley High School 90-4 (H Kells 36*, K Scott 2-7) Wallace Park #1
Tauranga Girls High School have started strong in their first appearance at the Gillette Venus Cup after posting a competitive 132-4. Anna Browning was influential in this total, scoring an impressive 61. Ruby Worrall assisted with the high score, adding 25 to the table. Hutt Valley High School with their second appearance at the Gillette Venus Cup showed promise in their reply, with Hannah Kells posting 36*. Kennedy Scott took a helpful two wickets for seven runs, slowing down the Hutt Valley High's batting side and leaving them 90-4 and securing Tauranga Girls’ first win.
Christchurch Girls High School 140-5 (C Liddington 35, G Ansell 27, M Martin 28*, M Loe 2-19) beat St Hilda’s Collegiate 49 all out off 15.1 overs (A McKissock 3-5, M Martin 3-8) Fitzherbert #1
Christchurch Girls High School have made light work of St Hilda’s Collegiate in their opening match after posting a very competitive 140 for 5. CGHS’s opening batsman Casey Liddington set the bar high, scoring 35 runs. Middle order Grace Ansell and Maggie Martin followed through with a very impressive 27 and 28* respectively. In an effort to slow down this experienced side, St Hilda’s Captain Molly Loe took 2-19, but it wasn’t enough. With a strong Christchurch bowling performance from Abby McKissock 3-5 and Maggie Martin 3-8, St Hilda’s batting side never made it to double figures and were left scrambling with the team dismissed for 49.
Tauranga Girls High School 90-3 (A Unwin 27*, N Patel 20) lost to St Matthew’s Collegiate 91-4 (J Hollard 42, A Clegg 1-6) Fitzherbet #2
Tauranga Girls High School have had a rough start to their first match of the Gillette Venus cup, having returned after a dry spell in qualifying for the tournament. Openers Aimee Unwin (27*) and Nensi Patel (20) put their best foot forward posting tidy scores, to begin the Tauranga momentum. It was no match for the well drilled St Matts bowling side as they brought Tauranga to the end of their innings posting 90-3. Having participated in this tournament in the previous season, St Matts knew what they had to do in reply. With a stellar performance from opener Jesse Hollard 42, the rest of the batting order could cruise towards their target with 3 overs to spare.
Round Two
Tauranga Girls College 133-3 (N Patel 85) beat Takapuna Grammar School 116-6 (R Worrall 50), Fitzherbert park #2
Takapuna Grammar School have come up short in their second round of the Gillette Venus Cup after a successful first game. Tauranga Girls opening batter Nensi Patel had a fiery first innings hitting 15 boundaries and posted a valuable total of 85*, never letting Tauranga’s bowling side get into her rhythm. In reply, Takapuna Grammar pushed hard and early to try and make up the numbers however were left chasing the Takapuna total when their openers got dismissed without making double digits. Ruby Worall had a notable performance hitting a half century in an effort to bring her teams total up. The opportunity to take the win soon became less obtainable as the team finished their innings with 116-6 to show for it.
St Matthews Collegiate 84-7 (E McLeoud 24, J Hollard 23, E Wallace 2-18) lost to Christchurch Girls High School 87-3 off 17.5 overs (C Liddington 20, G Ansell 19* and M Martin 16*), Wallace Park #1
Despite St Matthews best efforts, nothing could slow down the Christchurch Girls High side who comfortably won their second match of day one. St Matthews put 84 on the board thanks to openers Jesse Hollard scoring 23 and Emma McLeoud scoring 24. Estella Wallace was impressive with the ball ending the game with figures of 2-18. Casey Liddington 20, Grace Ansell 19* and Maggie Martin 16* were influential in Christchurch Girls High’s chase and ultimately in their success. Christchurch Girls High are the only team to remain undefeated after day one.
Hutt Valley High School 88-9 (H Kells 13, A McClean 3-15, A Duncan 2-11) beat St Hilda’s Collegiate 87 all out off 20 overs (J Meltzer 24, H Turner 4-20, N Codyre 2-11), Fitzherbert Park #1
Hutt Valley High School looked to be in trouble after St Hilda’s Collegiate side dismissed their batting order for 88. HVHS’s Hannah Kells was the only influential batter, scoring 13 towards her teams’ total. The St Hilda’s bowling side put up a good fight with Anna McClean taking 3 for 15 and Anna Duncan 2 for 11, preventing the HVHS top order from scoring big runs. St Hildas Jordan Meltzer fired back, scoring 24 off 27 balls including four four’s. Hutt Valley High knew if they wanted to win their first ever National Match, they needed some magic from their bowling side. Hanna Turner did just that, taking 4 wickets for 20 while Natasha Codyre took a helpful 2 for 11. In a nail biting finish, Codyres final ball of the match resulted in a stumping, dismissing Hilda’s final batter for 87 and securing Hutt Valley High School the victory.
Points after Day One: Christchurch Girls’ High School 4, Takapuna Grammar School 2, St Matthews Collegiate 2, Tauranga Girls College 2, Hutt Valley High School 2, St Hilda’s Collegiate 0
