Premier Cricket: Ringwood, Carlton qualify for women’s Firsts finals for the first time

A dramatic final round of women’s Firsts produced a shake-up of the top four and maidens finals appearances for expansion clubs Carlton and Ringwood.

Bhavisha Devchand will be a key player for Ringwood. Pic: Cricket Victoria

In: Ringwood, Box Hill.

Out: Dandenong, Essendon Maribyrnong Park.

Reigning premiers Dandy fell out of the top four and missed the finals after a shake-up of positions in the last round of women’s Premier Firsts on Sunday.

EMP also missed out after a narrow loss to Box Hill, which grabbed fourth place.

Ringwood defeated Carlton with a bonus point to jump from sixth to third and qualify for its first First XI finals series.

The Blues are also set for their maiden voyage in First XI finals.

There was little between the four teams placed third to sixth.

Ringwood and Box Hill settled on 43 points, behind Melbourne (65) and Carlton (48), but ahead of Dandenong (41) and EMP (40).

The Rams had to chase 8-189 at Princes Park and they did it brilliantly, racing to 5-192 in 38.2 overs to pick up the extra point.

“We were standing there at the end of the day going, ‘What the hell just happened and how did we manage that?’’ Ringwood coach Kim Littlejohn said.

“We gave ourselves a slim chance and it ended up working out in our favour, finally, because we’ve always been the ones where the luck has gone the other way. Pretty happy about it!’’

Opener Bhavisha Devchand, enjoying a golden summer, hit 32 off 27 balls, the equally prolific Una Raymond-Hoey scored 41 off 64 and there were good contributions from Kristy Arulrajah (33), Hailey Ferris (29no) and Tess Flintoff (28no).

Littlejohn said his team hadn’t set out to win with a bonus point.

Without it the Rams would have finished fourth.

Carlton’s Cailin Green.

“It was a really good team effort,’’ Littlejohn said.

“In the past two years we’ve prided ourselves on being able to chase. We’ve backed ourselves to chase something around 180 or just under 200. We’ve done that consistently. We felt on Sunday that by batting second we could control the game and if we needed to go for the bonus point, we could. But it wasn’t like we set out to get it. We just wanted to win the game and make sure we got into the four.’’

Ringwood and Carlton will play again in the semi-finals, again at Princes Park. Both clubs joined the women’s Premier Firsts competition in 2018-19.

“The contests between ourselves and Carlton have always been competitive,’’ Littlejohn said.

“We’ve always given ourselves a chance against them. We like playing the Blues, we like playing at Princes Park, so who knows. Anything is possible.’’

He said his club and Carlton had both worked hard to attain the standard of women’s Firsts and could be proud to have reached the finals four years after entering the competition.

“At the time there were concerns that the competition couldn’t sustain two new teams,’’ Littlejohn said.

“It’s exciting to see the expansion teams in the top four for the first time. It’s good for the game.’’

Box Hill qualified for another finals series after holding out EMP.

The Mustangs raised 143 and defended it by three runs.

EMP had been 2-117 but fell away badly after the dismissal of Siena Ferrara for 53.

Three run-outs didn’t help.

English spinner Kirstie Gordon was crucial with 3-31 off 10 overs and all-rounder Zoe Griffiths took 3-24 off her 10.

Dandenong tumbled out of the top four after Amy Vine steered Melbourne past the Panthers at the Albert Ground.

Vine’s 73 not out came off 130 balls and included 12 boundaries.

The Demons answered Dandenong’s 8-168 with 6-169.

Panther Kim Garth had an outstanding match with an innings of 73 and bowling figures of 3-13 off 9.1 overs.

Meanwhile, Melbourne will feature in the Seconds and Thirds grand finals following semi-final victories.

The Demons will meet Box Hill in the Seconds decider and Geelong in the Thirds.