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Hard luck to our Bartercard New Zealand Taranaki women, who’s Copelin Cup campaign got underway yesterday with a tough first up loss to Manawatu.
While a soggy morning left play looking uncertain at best, the match, reduced to 29 overs per side, got underway at 2.30pm with Manawatu winning the toss and sending our girls into bat.
Captain Jessie Hollard showed her class and composure as the side started well. Her 51 runs came off 64 balls and left Taranaki well poised to set a strong target, but the side struggled to lift the tempo late and their score of 135/7 always looked a tad short, but still defendable. Ella Wanahi looked comfortable at the crease on her way to 20 not out. Young speedster Natsume Macdonald stood out in the Manawatu attack and she finished with 2/22 while Sally Wenham took 3/25.
Needing to be disciplined with the ball and in the field to defend an under-par total, Taranaki had its moments but could never get quite on top of the Manawatu chase. Manawatu opener Aria Kearney was there from start to finish, hitting the winning runs to finish on 67 not out as Manawatu took the win with three wickets to spare in the 24th over. Lucy Mitchell was the best Taranaki bowler, taking 4/18 as Manawatu got the wobbles in the middle stages. Young spinner Abbey Fleming looked dangerous on entering the attack and was rewarded with her first wicket late in her first over after several earlier chances had gone begging.
The team moves on, with a trip to Masterton later this month the next assignment, where they’ll face a strong Wairarapa side who got off to a blistering start to the season with a big 147-run win over Hawkes Bay. ... See MoreSee Less