NSW Women’s Premier Cricket: U18s Brewer Shield, Rd 15 Team of the Week
A week out from the finals, it wasn’t just the leading teams turning on the individual brilliance in the Brewer Shield. From hat-trick heroes to dynamic all-rounders, R15 Team of the Week.
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A lengthy list of top performers made naming this week’s top XI an extremely challenging task.
With a double hat-trick, Ava Gaughan couldn’t be left out despite finishing in a losing side. Blacktown’s best couldn’t be denied, while numerous bowlers raised their hands with game changing returns.
Round 15 Team of the Week
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TEAM OF THE WEEK: ROUND 15
1. Athira Dilip Kumar (Blacktown)
The dashing opener has had a mortgage on the opening spot in recent weeks. Raised the bat with her fifth half century of the season and held the Ghosts to ransom with 3/32 from 10 overs.
2. Keya Patel (Blacktown)
The perfect foil for Kumar’s innings, Keya played a patient innings of 40 in a first-wicket stand of 121. And like her teammate, doubled down with the ball, taking 2/41.
3. Olivia Mitchell (Northern District)
A shining light in a struggling side, Olivia made it back-to-back fifties with a season-best 61 off 90 that included five fours and three maximums.
4. Jessica Bramble (Campbelltown Camden)
She ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, but Jessica finished the season in style. Remained unbeaten on 51 and also took 2/17 from six overs of medium pace.
5. Saskia Taylor (Sydney)
The only batter to master a challenging Birchgrove deck, Saskia carried Sydney to a position of strength with a pivotal knock of 50 from 99 balls that included four boundaries.
6. Ava Dragovic (Southern Swans)
Following a run of low scores, Ava stepped up when the Swans needed it most against Manly. Her unbeaten 60 off 89 effectively put the result beyond doubt and was more than 30 clear of the next best on the day.
7. Ella Wade (Sydney University)
Her 17 at the top of the order in a low scoring contest was important, but nothing compared to her spell that left Norths on the back foot. Ripped out the first three Bears to fall in a return of 3/11 from five overs.
8. Nicola Hudson (Southern Swans)
Never far away from the action, the Swans skipper had the ball on a string in the win over Manly. Took 5/9 in 10 overs, and upset the woodwork with every dismissal.
9. Ava Gaughan (Bankstown)
The tall right-armer will never forget her four-ball blitz at Birchgrove. Hit the perfect length, taking four wickets in as many deliveries - the last three crashing into the timber to round out a freakish double hat-trick.
10. Beth Millican (St George-Sutherland)
The Slayers all-rounder missed out with the willow, but the captain helped bowl her side to victory with a pin-point 4/13 from nine overs.
11. Zahra de Wit (Sydney)
Zahra was given the ball at 0/15 after nine overs, and promptly flipped Bankstown’s chase on its head. Took the first three wickets to fall with her first 25 deliveries and finished with 3/7 from six overs.
ELIMINATION FINALS: SUNDAY, MARCH 2
Southern Swans (3rd) v Greater Hunter Coast (6th), King George V, Port Kembla
Manly Warringah (4th) v Penrith Panthers (5th), Manly Oval
ROUND 15 WRAP
Gordon have been riding high at the top of the table for the majority of the season, but with one round to play before the finals the minor premiership race was still open.
And with the top two sides afforded multiple bites of the finals cherry, there was plenty at stake.
Round 15 wrap.
GORDON DIG DEEP
They weren’t at their best, but Gordon did enough to hold down top spot after ending Parramatta’s season with a four-wicket victory at Beauchamp Oval.
After finishing 11th last season, it’s a massive turnaround for the Quincy Titterton coached Stags who finished the preliminary rounds six points clear of St George-Sutherland with 12 wins and just three losses.
Needing a win to maintain their place at the head of the table, Gordon looked to be on track for an easy afternoon. Ivy Platt (3/13, 9.5 overs) and leg-spinner Audrey Kirk (4/26, 10 overs) helped bowl the visitors out for 107 in an innings where Mithula Venkatesh top scored with 32 off 80 balls.
In reply, Diya Sambrane (33 off 107) and Victoria Marsh (27* off 73) added 45 for the third wicket, but when Sambrane departed at 3/79 the Stags stumbled before scrambling to 6/108 in the 40th over.
SLAYERS’ PERFECT ROAD TRIP
St George-Sutherland headed north to Merewether needing a victory over Greater Hunter to maintain a top-two spot, and they got their wish following a hard-fought 21-run victory.
Libby Burgess extended her recent good form at the top of the order, top scoring with 32 as the Slayers posted 8/148 from 50 overs. Layla Graham (1/15, nine overs) proved miserly with the new ball and was well supported by Cosette Thomas who tightened the screws with 2/18 from 10 overs of leg-spin.
Graham also starred with the bat. The right-hander blast three sixes in a commanding 45 off 47 and alongside Felicity Wharton (32 off 68) the pair rescued the chase from 3/17 with a stand of 74.
But when Wharton departed at 4/91, the home side quickly crumbled, eventually bowled out for 127. Beth Millican (4/13, 8.5 overs) finished with the pick of the figures, and the left-armer’s four wickets extended her lead at the top of the wicket-takers’ list to 28 – six clear of Manly’s Matilda Brown.
It wasn’t all bad news for Greater Hunter. Despite the loss, they’re still finals bound and will attempt to defend their title from sixth spot.
TOP TWO SHOOTOUT
Blacktown got the better of Campbelltown Camden by 20 runs, but with the result having no impact on the finals all eyes turned to a couple of openers in the race to be crowned the competition’s leading run scorer.
Coming off a brilliant 90 last week, Athira Dilip Kumar once again top scored as Blacktown reached 7/184 at Joe McAleer Oval. Teaming with Keya Patel (40 off 103), the pair set up the home side’s third victory with an opening partnership of 121.
A proven boundary finder, Kumar hit 10 fours and with 68 off 117 balls moved to the outright lead for runs scored with 555 – just nine clear of Ghosts opener Aditi Shidore.
Kumar (3/32, 10 overs) also showed her class with the ball, securing the win with the big wicket of Shidore. But with 34 against her name, the Ghosts opener had done enough to claim individual honours, finishing the regular season with an aggregate high 580 runs.
SWANS LAND HOME FINAL
The Southern Swans jumped to third place after they defeated fellow finalists Manly by a convincing 71 runs at Manly’s Graham Reserve.
With the win, the Swans leapfrogged Manly who slipped to fourth spot ahead of next week’s elimination finals which will be played between the four lowest ranked sides inside the top six.
With 60 not out off 89 balls, Ava Dragovic was the only player from either side to post more than 26 runs. Her lone hand included eight fours and two sixes and saw the Swans set a challenging victory target of 158.
But the chase never really got going after Natalia Egan (2/12, five overs) picked up two early scalps. Nicola Hudson continue to apply the pressure with her spin, and the skipper helped bowl her side to an 11th win with an astonishing 5/9 from 10 overs that included four maidens.
DOUBLE HAT-TRICK
In an unusual day at Birchgrove Oval, Bankstown skipper Ava Gaughan returned home empty-handed after stunning her teammates and spectators with four wickets in consecutive deliveries.
Batting first, Sydney reached 5/130 in the 43rd over before Gaughan finished the over in style with four wickets from the final four balls.
After trapping Tara McCall lbw, the right-armer then went to town on the timber. The next ball rocked back the off stump, her hat-trick delivery thundered into middle and the fourth flattened Ella Wylie’s leg stump.
The carnage left the visitors needing 145 to finish their campaign with three straight victories.
In the end it was Sydney’s day. Zahra de Wit (3/7, six overs) quickly accounted for Gaughan and the in-form Ruby Carlyon, and the wickets kept falling until the 33rd over when Bankstown were bowled out for 52.
Sydney’s eighth win saw them finish four points behind Greater Hunter in seventh spot. A strong finish across the closing rounds left Bankstown in eighth, just four points adrift of Sydney.
PENRITH DO ENOUGH
Penrith secured fifth spot following a three-wicket victory over a winless Northern District at Asquith Oval.
Another half century from Olivia Mitchell (61 off 90) was the highlight for ND’s who were bowled out for 99. Penrith’s opening bowlers did the damage with Grace Rowan (3/2, 7.1 overs) and Manorath Gill (2/12, eight overs) combining for five wickets.
It wasn’t all plain sailing in reply for the Panthers who reached the target for the loss of seven wickets. Olivia Dimmick dug in at the top of the order, top scoring with 34 off 128 deliveries.
UNI FINISH IN STYLE
Sydney University have capped off the season with a sixth victory after downing UTS North Sydney by four wickets at St Paul's Oval.
Finishing one spot above the Bears in 10th place, Uni have come along in leaps bounds since coming last with just two victories last summer.
Sunday’s win came after Norths were knocked over for just 90 runs. Ella Wade (3/11, five overs) sparked the collapse and was joined by Diksha Chowdhary (3/21, 10 overs) and Hamnah Afzal (3/23, 10 overs) with three wickets each.
After several nervous moments, Ruby Dickerson guided the students over the line with an unbeaten 27 off 64 balls.
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