YOUNG’S Lucy Caldow was part of Western Zone’s big win in the Womens Country Championships on the weekend.
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And Western Under-15s coach Jaspal Bansal has praised the performance of his girls after taking the title.
Despite a third round loss to North Coastal, Western headed their pool, went straight into the grand final and eventually defended a total of 151 against Illawarra Souths who were all out for 148.
The weekend series of matches saw 20x20 and 35x30 overs matches played and the coach saw improvement in each match.
“Some of our girls were only 12 and 13-years-old and hadn’t played much cricket so we were one of the less fashionable sides,” Bansal said.
“But I saw improvement each day in the batting and bowling and especially in the field which won us the game in the final.”
Bansal said the performances of team captain Tilly Power from Cobar was outstanding with the bat and ball.
She finished with 161 runs at 53.67 average and seven wickets at 4.00 which put her alongside Illawarra’s Lauren Cheatle as players of the tournament.
“Tilly’s a real power house with her right hand batting and right arm medium pace bowling,” the coach said.
“That was particularly evident in the final when she top scored with 76 in our innings of 151 from 31.3 overs and then took 2-25 from seven overs with the ball.
“Even more amazing is the fact that Tilly’s parents take her to Sydney for grade cricket which is wonderful commitment.”
Although Western couldn’t bat out their 35 overs in the final against Illawarra Southern, Tilly’s 76 and 17 from Orange’s Synette Manns, gave the home side a competitive 151 total - assisted by no less than 39 sundries including 15 no balls and 13 wides.
Best partnerships were 62 runs for the fifth wicket between Tilly and Synette and another 25 for the seventh wicket between Tilly and Emily Fisher (7) from Dubbo - a young rookie who celebrated her 12th birthday during the carnival.
The Illawarra run chase started promising enough with Lauren Cheatle batting at three the wicket Western’s bowlers had to get.
“Lauren batted beautifully all weekend and especially in the final, she’s a wonderful prospect,” Jaspal Bansal said.
“They (Illawarra) were were on top with Lauren and Kaelah Austin putting on 72 for the fourth wicket before we were able to get Lauren’s wicket,” he said.
“And it come about with some great fielding from Synetta (Manns) who made ground at mid wicket to take the catch. That was the catch that made the final ours.”
Western are now hoping to have a number of players selected in the Country Under 15s side to play City which will lead into NSW selection.
The Western team included:
Lucy Caldow (Young), Jasmine Bansal, Maia O’Connor, Emily Fisher, Chloe Ahern (Dubbo), Brittany Owens (Wellington), Synetta Manns (Orange), Alana Ryan (Cowra), Annabel Meadley, Siobhan Turk, Emily Smith (Bathurst), Amy Suttor (Hargraves).
Coach: Jaspal Bansal (Dubbo).