GIRL POWER: The Western Zone under 15 girls with coach Jaspal Bansal and manager Jenny-Lynne Watts after their win: (back) Brittany Owens (Wellington), Emily Fisher (Dubbo), Amy Suttor (Hargraves), Annabel Meadley (Bathurst), Shiobhan Turk (Bathurst), Jasmine Bansal (Dubbo); (front) Chloe Ahern (Dubbo), Synetta Manns (Orange), Alana Ryan (Cowra), Tilly Power (captain - Cobar), Maia O’Connor (Dubbo) and Lucy Caldow (Young).
WESTERN under 15s coach Jaspal Bansal has praised the performance of his girls after winning the Country Championships.
Despite a third round loss to North Coastal, Western headed their pool, went straight into the grand final and eventually defended a total of 151 against Illawarra Souths, who were all out for 148.
“Some of our girls were only 12 and 13 years old and hadn’t played much cricket so we were one of the less fashionable sides,” Bansal said.
“But I saw improvement each day in the batting and bowling and especially in the field, which won us the game in the final.”
Although Western couldn’t bat out their 35 overs in the final against Illawarra Southern, Cobar’s Tilly Powers 76 and 17 from Orange’s Synetta Manns, gave the home side a competitive 151 total.
Illawarra were on top in the run chase, with Lauren Cheatle and Kaelah Austin putting on 72 for the fourth wicket, before Western prevailed to take the crown