Brewer Shield Round 15: UTS North Sydney vs Northern District at Bon Andrews Oval
Northern District 87 (A Uthappa 2/9, Z Ridgway 2/9, G Keating 2/10, T Jayakody 2/15) def by UTS North Sydney 6/91 (T Jayakody 29*, L Warren 25*)
We arrived at North Sydney with ominous skies overhead and, before we could park the car, the heavens opened up and large raindrops threatened both the match and the Bears Community Day, featuring a bake sale for the Jane McGrath Foundation’s Pink Stumps Day that had been planned. The girls arrived running through the rain with cricket kit in one hand and cakes, chocolate-dipped strawberries, meringues and cookies etc in the other! Thankfully, after about 10 minutes, the rain stopped and the skies began to clear. Much to everyone's surprise the umpires advised they would be starting the game at the scheduled time provided we could get the covers off and the ground ready on time. At this point fathers descended from everywhere to lend a hand and 15 minutes later the ground was ready for the day's play.
The Bears, starting a new streak, won the toss and sent the Northern District team in to bat first, after chatting to the groundsman who advised the pitch might be a little lively after spending all day Saturday under the covers. The opening bowlers Charlotte Moss and Tuvini Jayakody got us off to a brilliant start with Charlotte (3 overs 1 for 6) taking the first wicket leaving ND's at 1/14. The first change saw more success with Anjali Uthappa (5 overs 2 for 9) taking two quick wickets. Grace Keating (5 overs 2 for 10) was next to strike. Zoey Ridgway then followed up with the prized wicket of NDs captain Kate McTaggart on 40, who was the main resistance. Tuvini (6 overs 2 for 15) in her second spell and Zoey (4.2 overs 2 for 9) did what good bowlers do and cleaned up the tail, leaving NDs all out for 87.
Bianca Lozell was again fantastic behind the stumps, taking two sharp catches. Her keeping has improved every week and the girls are all glad she decided to be a Bear.
Despite the seemingly low score, there was still a bit of life in the pitch and this was going to be no easy run chase. This was best demonstrated by the first ball of the bears innings which nipped back of the seam to take middle and saw us slump to 1/0 off 1. Liz Buckley and Grace then got in behind the ball, played some strong defensive cricket trying to see the shine of the ball, the seam soften and see off NDs’ strike opening bowler Kate McTaggart. However, unfortunately Grace copped a brute of a ball seeming back to take the top of off stump. Not long after, Liz continued her run of bad luck, adjudged LBW for the third week straight when one hit rapped her on the pads. Soon after, McTaggart took her 4th wicket completing a withering spell (4 overs 4 for 4) and the Bears were on the rack at 4/10.
Caity Thomas then did exactly what the team needed and dug in and stopped the rot, forming a partnership with Tuvuni before one snuck through and hit her on the back pad. We then lost another quick wicket and the team was struggling at 6/28. Things were looking grim as captain Lucy strode to the pitch to join Tuvini. Both girls, despite strong starts to the season, had struggled of late with the bat. However, putting concerns of form aside, they were both up for the fight, carefully watching the good deliveries and punishing the bad. The crowd of Bears watching on at the Community Day event cheered almost every delivery survived, let along every run!
The girls were building what looked to be a match winning partnership, with one hurdle still to pass - the return of Kate McTaggart. NDs may have played this trump too late as the girls were both already well set. Both Tuvini and Lucy showed great maturity, blocking out Kate at one end and taking advantage of some loose bowling at the other end, including Lucy hitting a six to rapturous applause to take us within 12 of the target and diffuse the tension. The pair kept their focus, guiding the Brewers team to their second win of the season.
To give you an idea of how tough the pitch was playing, only three girls managed to make double figures for the match:
- K McTaggart NDs (40 off 89)
- Tuvuni Jayakody (29* off 74)
- Lucy Warren (25* off 40)
Congratulations to Michelle Goszko who finally got to see the girls win a match after scheduling clashes causing her to miss both of the team’s previous wins. We would also like to thank all of the people who helped make our Community Day and Pink Stumps Day such a success both on and off the field, with almost $1400 raised for the McGrath Foundation. Many compliments for the quality of the baking and lots of full bellies!