Western Power v Northern Kings
BPL 2022 - U23F
27 September 2022 (2:00pm) at Wayne Broad Oval
With their first match on Bill Albury Oval finishing late, for the Kings, the start of play was delayed by 30 minutes. It was a little overcast, but was there really a storm about? Emma Jackson had no hesitation in bowling first.
Tight bowling early by Erin Moran and Ashleigh Sims resulted in some aggressive running between wickets and after a few close calls, Abby Harris’ throw in the 5th over was too quick for Eden Colen to complete a second and the Kings were 1/17. A few overs later, Abby Harris found herself with a wicket to her name when her fourth ball burst through Charlotte Love’s defences to make it 2/41. Rosie McMahon met the same fate in Harris’ next over and a Jackson catch in Harris’ third over made it 3 in 3 for Harris. Clodagh Ryall and Holly Hogan threatened with 24 from 15 balls before Erin Moran juggled and held a lofted drive by Ryall off Olivia Clark with the score on 87! Hogan and Tamsin Gandhi added 25 from the next three overs and 150 looked on the cards for the Kings. Then came the sensational 18th over! A brilliant Breanna Craven direct hit caught Gandhi short from the third ball of the over. Ayaka Stafford’s next ball rattled the furniture and when the new batter stepped across and was hit on the pads, it was three in a row and a team hat-trick! Four balls later, Ashleigh Sims snuck one through and in the space of seven balls 5/112 had become 9/113! The King’s managed 6 from the last to set a target of 120.
The skies were a little more ominous now and play was halted 1.1 overs in - the covers applied. Thankfully, just 14 minutes were lost. 14 came from the 9 balls after the resumption, but the 10th was the important wicket of Jackson caught by her opposing skipper Ryall of the bowling of Maddie Duncan. Two overs later, Ryall rattled Freiberg’s stumps and the Power were 2/32. A run-a-ball 44 run partnership between Breanna Craven and Meghan McCartney featured some good running and provided important impetus to the Power innings, but an amazing 11 ball spell in overs 12 and 13 set the cat amongst the pigeons. The Power batters were mesmerised by the loopy spin of Tamsin Gandhi. Craven wandered out of her crease and was stumped in the 12th. McCartney and Emily Titmarsh spooned catches to Duncan and Hogan and while Gandhi was weaving her magic, Ella Fernleigh snuck one through Jamie-Lee Strang to reduce the Power to 6/84. it was left to the cool heads of Lucy Williams and Abby Harris to shepherd the Power flock home! Their partnership was unbeaten on 32 from 28 balls when Umpires called a halt for bad light with two overs remaining and four runs to get. DLS par was 106, so the win went to the Power.
Another entertaining fixture!
