Last week seven of our NWWC Premiers played for the Canterbury U19’s in their national tournament held at Lincoln and St Andrews from January 6-12. The setup was five 50 over matches and a 20 over match to conclude the tournament on the final day After a rain and summer break affected lead up, they were all very excited to get back out onto the park and play some competitive cricket.
Day one started at Bert Sutcliffe with typical cricketing weather: rain. After Libby Stead won the only toss she’d win all week, Canterbury chose to bat. After some great batting by Harriet Graham and Lucy Murray, NWWC’s Abby McKissock and Nicola Clayton came in to finish Canterbury’s batting innings of 193/9 with a 33 run partnership, leaving McKissock and Clayton on 13 and 21, respectively. Canterbury managed to restrict Northern Districts to 174/9 with McKissock and Libby Stead getting two wickets, while Clayton and Abigail Hotton getting one wicket each. It was a great start to the tournament.
Day two and three were tough. They played Auckland at St Andrews on day two and Central Districts at Lincoln No.3 on day three. After being put into bat and being restricted to 109 with Maggie Martin high scoring for the NWWC girls with 11 off 12, Auckland chased the runs, finishing 110/2 with a run of from McKissock. Day three started with Central putting Canterbury into the field and setting 260 to chase. After having CD 45/4, credit has to be given to the opposition for reaching 260/9 after the start they had. An outstanding performance from Hotton with the ball with figures of 3-42 as well as McKissock and Stead with figures of 1-31 and 2-39, respectively. Izzy Sharp top scored for Canterbury in the chase, scoring 47 off 42. Unfortunately, a lack of partnerships meant Canterbury were bowled out for 126 off 29 overs.
With day four being a rest day, Canterbury were rearing to go on day five against Wellington back at Bert Sutcliffe. After being put into the field again in 25 degree heat, Canterbury did a great job of restricting Wellington to 224/9 with McKissock, Clayton, Stead, and Hotton getting one wicket each and an outstanding team effort in the field with four run outs. It came down to the wire as Canterbury chased the runs with 11 balls to spare. There were some great scores from throughout the team with Graham getting 47, Sharp scoring 35, Casey Liddington scoring 42, and Clayton finishing the job with 17 of 20. It was a true team performance.
Day six was played on Lincoln No.3 again against Otago. With Canterbury having Otago 101/7 after 23 overs, it was a long and arduous task to get the remaining four wickets. Otago bowled out for 175 off 38.3. Some great bowling, however, from McKissock with figures of 2-23 and Clayton with 3-36. Unfortunately, Canterbury couldn’t string a significant partnership together leaving them 38 runs short. More runs for Sharp accumulated with her scoring 39 and Martin scoring 23.
The final day, day seven, was a T20 against Auckland at St Andrews. After being put into bat, Canterbury put a very respectable 122/7 on the board with Sharp in the runs again batting her way to 66 of 52 with some great cameos with Joey Hull, Murray, and Clayton. Canterbury put their foot on the throat and kept a high quality Auckland side to 97/9 off their 20. The medium pacers and spin had the most success with Hotton getting 3-15 and Stead finishing her tournament with 4-16. This was a great win to finish the tournament on for the girls.
There was a lot of learning and success that came out of this tournament for the NWWC girls. With four of the seven being able to return next year and a few others from NWWC in the training squad, it’s going to be a great few years ahead for the Canterbury U19’s. A massive thank you also has to go to Kirsty Bond and Paul Matthews for looking after the girls for the week. The learnings these girls have gained from these two are invaluable.
https://www.nzc.nz/domestic/competition-centres/national-womens-under-19-tournament
North-West Women's Cricket 