Female Youth League
Melville 4/80 def. Wanneroo 77
The Under 17 girls traveled to Melville and after winning the toss were keen to bat first. After the loss of an early wicket we saw a good consolidating partnership between Talia (12) and Shayna (11), until Shayna was undone by the ball of the day.
The introduction of spin from the river end caused some issues, with the score tumbling from 3/35 to 7/51.
A great little cameo innings from Aymie (12) followed, including some strong hitting which spread the field. Meanwhile, Sophie had weathered the storm to protect her wicket, pushing the ball into gaps and sending a couple of crisp off drives to the boundary to finish 13*, with the last wicket falling at 77 in the 15th over.
It was going to take a good effort to defend this score, and Shelby got things started in great fashion with a direct hit run out from mid on. Chloe bowled well and was unlucky not to get a wicket. The next dismissal took a while to find, and it was the result of a fantastic diving catch by Eva in the deep off Aymie’s bowling, which was super tight (1/5 off 3 overs)! In a real purple patch, Eva then made a run out out of seemingly nothing and we were back in the game – especially after another classy stumping by Tene, this time keeping up to Shelby.
In the end though, there just weren’t enough runs on the board, with Melville passing the total in the 18th over.
Female B Grade
Perth 2/79 def. Wanneroo 78 (Reichelt 39)
It was a similar score line in B Grade, with the opportunity for the Roos to bat first, but finding ourselves all out for 78 in the 17th over.
It was great to see Shenae return powerfully from her recent injury, as she hit a run a ball 39. Other contributors with the bat included Meg (10) and Kristee (9). A tough period saw the side go from 6/68 to 9/71, before some resistance from Emma towards the send.
Perth were able to reach 30 before losing their first wicket, and only lost one more in reaching the target in the 15th over. Emma was again among the wickets, picking up 1/9, while Shenae chimed in with 1/6.
Both female sides sit third on the ladder at the halfway point of the T20 season, with a top two finish needed to play in the final.