Women’s Country Bash: Riverina and Newcastle face off in the final
It’ll be a case of hat-trick hopefuls taking on first-time finalists as Riverina take on Newcastle in the women’s Country Bash final. Find out how both sides are shaping up.
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It’ll be a case of the back-to-back champions against the first-time finalists as the Riverina Bullets take on the Newcastle Blasters in the women’s Country Bash final.
The teams will face off at the Cricket NSW Central Cricket Oval at Silverwater in Sydney on Tuesday at 9am, and there will be no shortage of motivation for both sides.
For Riverina, it’ll be the chance to win an incredible hat-trick of titles after claiming the last two Country Bash crowns.
Meanwhile it will be Newcastle’s first time in the decider, with the side hopeful its mix of youth and experience will be enough to claim a famous first win in the competition.
Catch up with a preview of the big game below.
Riverina
Looking to complete a hat-trick of Country Bash championships is the ever-formidable Riverina Bullets.
Three from three so far this tournament, the Bullets have fired on all accounts, showing their ability to chase down totals and hold off opposition chases with impressive bowling displays.
“Everyone has pitched in to get us where we are,” captain Cath Wood said.
“It’s not often you get the opportunity to go three in a row, so we’ll be giving it our best crack.”
The depth of the Riverina squad has been crucial to their success, with the side having been able to field strong teams even while missing some talented players to other sporting commitments, such as Jodie Hicks to AFLW and Charlie Lamont to football.
Despite this, they’ve maintained their dominance through some stellar bowling, with Wood believing the return of their full squad will lead to batting dominance as well.
“We’re a strong unit overall on the field,” Wood said.
“We’ve got a mix of experienced players, people like Lisa Kuschert who have played with the NSW Breakers, as well as some youth who have come through the pathways like Alice Caldow, Sara Burns and Grace Moyle.”
Opening batter Kuschert has been a standout for the Bullets, hitting 57 not out in their competition opener before scoring 38 not out in the following match.
Young gun Caldow has been bowling some “angry” left-arm fast deliveries, picking up four wickets so far. Meanwhile Burns has been another young talent showing plenty of maturity with the bat, rotating the strike at the top of the order well to compliment Kuschert.
Newcastle
While Riverina will be looking to become hat-trick heroes, their opponents are driven to make history as first Newcastle team to win the women’s Country Bash.
“We’ve got plenty of motivation to do that,” said coach Tommy Anderson.
“We’ve been in really good positions in semi-finals in the past and been beaten, and I think there are some girls who want to put those ghosts to rest. We’ve got a really good opportunity and it’s up to us to take it,” he added.
“Riverina have won it twice in a row, so they’ll be the favourites and that’s ok with us. They understand big games and have some big-game players but I think our overall team matches anybody in the state.”
Newcastle qualified for the final after a string of excellent performances in the Pool A preliminary round a fortnight ago, comfortably winning all three games.
After a solid 29-run win in the opening game against the North Coast Chargers, Newcastle really turned on the fireworks in the final two matches, demolishing the Northern Inland Bolters by eight wickets with 10.5 overs remaining after the bowling the team out for just 51, and then hammering the Central Coast Rush by 89 runs in the final group game.
Captain Kirsten Smith was particularly impressive, scoring an unbeaten 43 in the first game, meanwhile vice-captain and NSW Country representative Kate McTaggart showed her class with scores of 45* and 19* in the last two games, while also picking up three important wickets in the first round win over North Coast.
And while the team has been strong with a bat and ball, Anderson said he’s pleased with the side’s all-round performances.
“Our batting and bowling have both been solid but was pleased me even more was our fielding. The fielding effort was fantastic.
“In previous years some balls would trickle away but the girls have become accustomed to the ground, the diving and the stopping, and just the sheer effort to stop that single run made a massive difference.
“Keeping players on strike when you need to, good throwing – one of the best things we’ve got is some young girls who can throw the ball hard and a long way – and that makes a massive difference in women’s cricket.”
In particular, the coach highlighted the performances of opening batter Claire Webber, who in addition to scoring 70 runs across the group stages, was electric in the field.
“We’ve got one of the best infielders in Claire Webber,” said Anderson.
“Her leadership is amazing. You don’t have to be a captain to be a leader. Her leadership with the young girls and guiding them is fantastic.”
And while the team will be without Jaclyn Vickery due to work commitments and Laura Knipe, who will be on a Young Matildas camp, Anderson is confident his team has the right mix to bring home the title.
“The best thing we’ve got going for us this year is that all the girls have played together for multiple years, know what they’re doing and move around the field well. There’s also fantastic support from the older players, which is really good,” he said.
“We think we’re going to win, we’re very confident of that. But anything can happen in T20 cricket,” he added.
“We do a lot of planning, I think that’s probably our forte. We know how the other teams like: they’ve got a very, very good side.
“They’ve got Jodie Hicks who played for the (Sydney) Sixes and NSW and another couple of girls who’ve played really high-level cricket, so we understand that it’s going to be a task to beat them but I think we’ve got the youth and experience on our side to do it.”
Riverina and Newcastle face off at the Cricket Central Oval, Silverwater, at 9am on Tuesday November 21.
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