Cricket Girls’ 1st XI
Having qualified in Term 1 2013 for National Finals, term
4 was all about honing the teams skills for the 6 team
National tournament to be held in Palmerston North in
December. Once again the girls played in the Hastings
boys’ junior A competition; winning more games than
losing much to the dismay of the boys teams.
The team went to Palmerston North in good form and
confident of defending the title they won in late 2012. A
change in format saw the team up against the 6 best
teams in NZ (previously 8 teams). Day one was played
on artificial wickets as a result of constant drizzle. First up
we played Wellington Girls College which proved to be
an absolute nail biter. HNHS won the toss & put WGC in
to bat. They made 82/5 in their 20 overs. Sophie Pyott
(Y9) in her first game at Nationals made the big break
through to bowl out their star batsman for 42 just when
WGC were threatening to build a big score. HNHS lost
both openers cheaply, but the reliable Holly
MacDonald (38) & Caitlin King (27no) got us up to win
with just 3 balls to spare. A scratchy win ... but a win to
kick start the tournament.
The 2nd game on day one was against Waikato Diocesan. Again Tammy Welsh won the toss & elected to bowl
first. Dio made 94/2 in 20 overs. Natalya Taylor took the
only wicket & affected a quality run out to star in the field.
HNHS passed the total in the 19th over – again all too
close for the coach & supporters! Monique Yule (18),
Holly (21), Caitlin (10) & Natalya (13no) all contributed.
So the perfect start, two from two.
Day two saw us return to grass wickets as the sun shone.
Tammy again won the toss & gave us the luxury of electing
to field first against St Kentigerns College from Auckland.
St Kents struggled against the accurate bowling & tight
fielding & were held to just 39/9. Caitlin 3/2, Sophie 2/1,
Erica Sinclair 2/8 were the main destroyers. HNHS passed
the total in the 9th over, finishing on 40/2. Holly 19no was
the highest scorer again.
The 2nd game on day two was against the strong St
Hildas College from Dunedin. We were forced to bat first
as Tammy finally lost a toss. We made 116/6 in 20 overs.
Holly (43), Caitlin (38) & Tammy (10) were the top scorers.
St Hildas could only muster 62/6 in reply when the overs
ran out. Natalya took 2/12, & also took an amazing diving
catch to remove their star batter early. The quality of our
fielding was outstanding as we also got 3 run outs (2 to
Caitlin), that totally demoralised the opposition.
When the last day dawned we already had the tournament sewn up. But for Holly, Tammy, Neesha Johnson &
Ella Richardson this was to be their last game for HNHS
so they & the team wanted to give them a good send off.
Rangiruru Girls School from Christchurch bore the brunt of
that determination for a great finish. Normality was restored
& Tammy won the toss & asked Rangiruru to bat. They
were dismissed inside 12 overs for just 35. Caitlin 3/9,
Neesha 3/6 & Erica 2/2 & another flawless fielding display
were impressive. We won in the 6th over, scoring 36/1.
Tammy (12 no) & Ella 5 finished in style
So HNHS were back to back NZ champions following their
success in 2012. This was a totally commanding performance as to be undefeated showed we were a class
above the rest.