Led by a player-of-the-game performance from skipper Abbie Uhr, Western Zone bolted out of the gates in Monday’s opening round of the Western NSW Under-15 Girls’ Carnival, kicking off its campaign with a commanding win over Penrith.
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After winning the toss and batting Uhr, from Blayney, entered the fray at 1-44 and belted a scintillating, unbeaten 83 from just 87 balls to lead Western to 4-196 from its 40 overs.
She built on the excellent foundation Kinross’ Claudia Hamilton (32 from 98) and Broken Hill’s Katie Letcher (22 from 39) laid, Hamilton’s composed innings provided perfect foil for her skipper as the pair added 125 for the second wicket.
Elsa Hunter was the best with the ball for Penrith, taking 2-17 from her seven overs, but her side struggled with the bat against Western’s clinical attack.
Not through lack of effort of course, Penrith showed plenty of character and grit in the chase after slumping to 2-9 early, but ultimately fell well short as it was bowled out for 95.
Zoe Murdoch (32 not out) and Hunter (14) tried to mount a fightback and added 23 for the third wicket, but when the latter was run out by Bridie Minehan Penrith’s collapse began.
The Sydney side went on to lose their remaining seven wickets for 52. Mea O’Byrne did the bulk of the damage for Western, finishing with game-best figures of 3-6 from just four overs.
Caitlin Keen (2-26), Taylor Hobby (1-11), Amy Kreuzberger (1-3), Minehan (1-7) and Chloe Stapleton (1-5) were Western’s other wicket-takers.
Western will face Brisbane North on Tuesday’s second day of the tournament, and will enter the clash supremely confident after the Queenslanders suffered a heavy defeat to a powerful ACT outfit on day one.
None of the Brisbane side was able to make it to double figures, as it was rolled for just 32.
ACT’s opening pair of Elizabeth Coper-Jones (9 not out) and Mikaylah John (21 not out) made light work of the chase, reeling in Brisbane’s target in the seventh over.
ACT’s new-ball guns Monica Gair (1-6) and Kallie Gumm (3-11) kick-started Brisbane’s collapse, leaving the Queenslanders reeling at 4-14 with superb opening spells.
Emily Stoker (0-11) bowled well without luck after that and Gair produced a run out too, before Coper-Jones and Jessie Mudaliar finished Brisbane off, taking 3-1 and 2-0 respectively from their combined six overs.
Gordon also faced-off against Riverina on the opening day, with the former side to take on Penrith on Tuesday while the latter pits itself against the might of the ACT.
Meanwhile in the boys’ carnival Western was proving its strength as well, Mitchell Cricket Council, Dubbo and Orange’s Invitational XI all came up trumps on the opening day.
The Black Caps trumped Wakatipu High School in a thriller, which came after the Kiwi sides passionate haka at Jack Brabham Park.
Wakatipu manager Russ Mawhinney explained his side will lay down the same challenge to all of its opposition this week as well.
The Orange side scored a commanding first-up win over the Western Sydney Stars, while Dubbo picked up a reasonably comfortable three-wicket win over St George.
The latter side’s victory was led by Joseph Cant and Tom Coady, the latter was fresh off a starring performance in Western’s successful Kookaburra Cup campaign.
Cant picked up 5-32 as Dubbo skittled St George for 167, before Coady led from the front with 56 in the chase.
Ben Rosenbaum was next best with 37 as Dubbo won with three wickets at 14 overs to spare at Country Club Oval.
In another of Monday’s games, Blacktown justified the pre-tournament hype with a dominant win over fellow would-be contenders ACT.
Ben Schofield (49) and Jarrod Stone (40) were Blacktown’s best as the Sydney side piled on 218, before skittling the ACT for just 101.
Parramatta (3-150) also made light work of Shoalhaven (9-146) on Monday.
All of Tuesday’s games kick-off at 9am.