After a strong start to the season defeating William Carey 90 to -18, we struggled to land consistent wins. By the end of the season we languished in the middle of the table (3rd out of 5 teams). Many wrote off our chances of winning as we faced off against Clancy Catholic College in the second and third place semi final. After the first pair we were on 0 runs. Things weren’t looking strong. The second pair added a total 1 run. Things weren’t looking strong. A good third pair from Annalyse ‘Straight Bat’ N and Carys ‘Mitchell’ J added 12 runs. But things still weren’t looking strong. We needed runs, and fast.
Emily ‘Hall of Fame’ H and Sarah ‘Back Net’ C ended well, adding 20 runs, and setting a total of 34 for Clancy to chase down. Potentially defendable, probably not winnable.
Half way through their innings Clancy looked in a strong position on 44 runs. However, some superb bowling from Annika ‘Brett Lee’ G, Carys, and Jacqui ‘Bowl Him Shane’ F resulted in 6 wickets in three overs, and Clancy tumbled an irrecoverable 11 run total. Clancy worked their way back into contention but in the end couldn’t get the job done - with a bit of luck on our side we managed to escape with the win, and a three run margin 31-34.
Now in the finals we were up against the undefeated Freeman Catholic College, by far and away we were the underdogs. But just like the Western Bulldogs in 2016, we proved that a middle table team can have a glorious finals run, and knock the minor premiers off their post.
Big hitting by Ari ‘Tendulkar’ L resulted in a very respectable 48. We knew the game was in our grasp. Potentially defendable, probably winnable.
That was until two overs into Freemans innings, when a dominant batting display saw them on 24 runs. We were nervous to say the least. Tactical bowling changes saw the bleeding stop. At the end of eight overs, half way through their innings, they were on 38 - still tracking well to win.
Things were looking dicey for Elise before the game, but some assistance from Daniel ‘Supercoach’ F meant that Elise ‘Perry’ M quickly became a star bowler, taking wickets and keeping the run rate down. Hannah “Michael” V may carry the name of a batsman, but came into bowl with an intensity Michael V himself would be scared of - taking three wickets, and bringing the game back within grasp.
We headed into the final over tied at 48 runs apiece. Amelia ‘Trevor Chappell’ N came into bowl underarm style - wides and no balls are worth two runs - it needed to be a tight over. The first ball had great line and length - a dot ball. The second ball challenged the batsmen - another dot ball. Third ball pitched up, the batsmen hit it straight - straight into the hands of Ari Lo’gloves’o - WICKET! -5 runs! We were now leading by 5 with 3 balls to go. They needed to run, but the bowling was too good, three dot balls. The game was ours.
An amazing come from behind victory - credit where credit is due to the coaching of Daniel Ford as well.
Mr Nicholas Lindeback
MISA NORTH Girls Indoor Cricket 7-9 Champion Coach
