Women’s Premier Cricket: Prahran set for shot at glory

Prahran is staring at a history-making achievement after a stunning Women’s Premier Firsts home-and-away campaign.

Alana King has had an outstanding season for Prahran. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Prahran is staring at a history-making achievement after a stunning Women’s Premier Firsts home-and-away campaign.

The True Blues will contest a cut-throat home semi-final against Plenty Valley at Toorak Park on Sunday after finishing the regular season on top of the ladder.

They are two wins away from their maiden 50-over title, with powerhouse clubs Essendon Maribyrnong Park and Box Hill dominating the competition in recent summers.

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While Prahran claimed a Twenty20 flag in 2016-17, it has never been in a better position to hoist the silverware in the state’s pre-eminent women’s competition.

“We’re in that confident mindset, where we’ve played pretty well as a team all year,” True Blues coach Carl Sandri said.

“Coming into the finals, we want to keep doing the same things. We’ve been doing the basics well across the whole group.

“I know first place doesn’t matter come first week of finals, but I think it does if you can take that positivity out into your first semi and really stay strong.”

Melbourne and Box Hill will do battle in Sunday’s other semi.

While star batter Jess Duffin – who hammered 567 runs from six games and boasted an astonishing average of 189 and remains the competition’s leading run-scorer – is unavailable for finals because of AFLW commitments, the True Blues have no shortage of talent.

Skipper Emma Inglis had 545 runs to her name, while star all-rounders Annabel Sutherland (327 runs and 19 wickets) and Alana King (203 runs and 25 wickets) have provided a myriad of headaches for opposition teams.

“The senior players especially have been a lot more consistent and have led us to the position we’re in now. We have a really big chance to build on a strong season and take that into finals,” Sandri said.

“We’ve got a lot of young players at the club. With youth sometimes comes inconsistency, which we are happy to wear. But I sort of put it on the senior players a little bit more at the start of the season.

“We obviously know we’ve got a good list. We’ve got a lot of contracted WBBL and state players, but I put it on them a little bit more to just give us a bit more not only in the game, but at the club. They’ve been great.”