On Wednesday 30th November our year 7 girl’s cricket team headed to the mighty MCG to compete in the State Cricket Grand Final against Lilydale High School. The students earned their spot in the final by winning the local and regional carnivals, both times undefeated.
The girls trained 3 times a week in the lead up to the event and their preparation showed with an excellent display of skills. Each member did their part for the team and the girls all encouraged each other and backed each other up.
Captain Courtney won the toss and elected to bat first. Courtney and Charli had a solid first partnership against 2 very good bowlers from Lilydale. The highlight being a big hit from Charli which resulted in 12 runs as it cleared the boundary on the full in the double points zone (in super 8 cricket any shot that passes the bowlers end of the wicket scores double points).
Kelsea and Casey were the next pair to bat. They rotated the strike well and used their ‘free hit opportunities’ to compile a great total.
Erin and Bree ran really well between the wickets and put lots of pressure on the Lilydale fielders.
Megan and Hayley finished off a solid innings for Echuca scoring a 4 off the last ball. A fabulous batting performance by all, resulting in a total of 107 runs!
Courtney opened the bowling and started with a beautiful ball that just missed the stumps. The opposition connected with one of Courtney’s fast paced balls which saw it fly away for 6, but otherwise it was a stellar opening over, which set the tone for the rest of the innings.
Charli and Kelsea both bowled a wonderful line with Charli only being hit for 3 and Kelsea for just 1 run!
Casey bowled well, but the opposition managed to connect with a few which gave them some hope… and then Erin and Bree come on to bowl! Erin was on target with one wide being the only blemish to her over and Bree bowled a wicket maiden! Things were looking good!
Hayley and Megan were fabulous in bowling the last overs, with Megan bowling a double wicket maiden with one of her wickets being on the last ball of the innings! What a way to finish!
Final score 107 to 58. Congratulations girls!
A big thank you to Goulburn Murray Cricket for their support and sponsorship, which brought the initial round of competition to Echuca and then enabled us to transport the team plus a number of other students to the game and also to visit the VIS and tour the MCG and National Sports Museum. Thank you to Cricket Victoria for running the event and to the parents and students that came to watch. A great day had by all!
