Even after all of the dire weather throughout the week, the Under 16 Flames still got to play their game against the Selwyn Wahine, at Tai Tapu Domain. Captain for the Day, Summer Karras, lost the toss and Selwyn decided to take advantage of the wet grounds and have a bat. However, they had reckoned without the strike weapon that is India Buchanan, who struck in her first (maiden) over, bowling one of their openers. Selwyn were 0/1! Luce Dawson was the next one to take a wicket, with Jesse D’arcy-Slade taking a well-judged catch at mid-on. Luce then picked up a second wicket four balls later, with Grace Darnbrough taking a nice caught behind, and Selwyn were 26/3.
Summer bowled Louisa, then Makayla had Hannah caught by India, before India bowled two Selwyn players herself, in consecutive balls, to have them 69/7. Summer and Jesse then bowled three maidens in a row between them, as Selwyn dug in for a while. Xenia Prinz finally bowled Selwyn’s top scorer, Sophia, and Millie Camm-Rule cleaned up the last batter, with Selwyn making 100 all out.
Unfortunately, our girls started in an identical fashion to Selwyn, with Summer being brilliantly caught on the second ball of the innings, leaving the Flames 0/1! Jesse was the next to go, before Millie and Luce put on a near 50-run partnership. Both players hit some lovely shots, Luce top scoring for the team with a nicely paced 29, featuring three boundaries. Millie was eventually dismissed with the score at 58, while Luce was bowled with the score at 88. Xenia and India then saw the Flames through to the win, for the loss of just four wickets. Our second win of the season!
Two Player of the Day awards were given out today: India picked up the first one, with three wickets (all clean-bowled) and a catch leading the way while fielding; and Luce got the second, for her well-paced innings which set the groundwork for the win. We are now third on the ladder, tied on points with Selwyn, but with a slightly superior run rate. With only four games left in the season, the bronze position is still very much up for grabs.
North-West Women's Cricket 