Bay five do district proud

ND’S BAY GIRLS: The Poverty Bay players in the Northern Districts team at the national under-15 tournament in Whanganui are (from left) Paige Bentley, Rubi Perano, Mia Reeves, Bayleigh Colbert and Kayley Knight. The team were coached by Poverty Bay Cricket district manager Mel Knight (right). Picture supplied

“GIRLS cricket is on the rise across the country.”

So says Northern Districts under-15 girls team coach and Poverty Bay Cricket Association district manager Mel Knight — a point reinforced by the standard at the national u15 tournament in Whanganui.

Knight was in charge of an ND team who included five Poverty Bay players — her daughter Kayley, Paige Bentley, Rubi Perano, Mia Reeves and Bayleigh Colbert.

“The team were a great bunch of girls from all over the ND region,” said Mel Knight. “They all came together well as a group and each player showed improvement over the course of the week, culminating in a win on the final day.”

ND defeated Otago by three wickets in the playoff for fifth and sixth.

Otago were dismissed for 114 on the penultimate ball of the 30th and final over, with Kayley Knight taking four wickets for 10 runs off six overs.

ND reached 115-7 in 28.3 overs, thanks largely to an unbeaten 55 from Northland’s Makayla Templeton.

They lost their other five matches.

Kayley Knight finished second top runscorer for ND with 96 runs at an average of 24.

She was also the second highest wicket-taker (6) with an impressive economy rate of 2.48 runs from the 29 overs she bowled.

She also effected a run-out and took a catch and was ranked the second MVP for ND and fifth overall out of 73 players at the tournament.

Co-captain Makayla Templeton was ND’s top MVP and third overall after scoring 175 runs.

“Both these girls should go on to higher honours within ND,” Mel Knight said,

Reeves and Perano topped ND’s fielding leaderboard — Reeves with three catches and two run-outs, wicketkeeper Perano with two catches, a stumping and a run-out.

The highlight for Reeves, who normally doesn’t bowl, was the prized wicket of Auckland opener Prue Catton, who scored 170 runs over the tournament at an average of 42.5. Reeves bowled her for 28.

“Rubi (20) topscored against Auckland in a game in which our top order hardly scored any,” said Mel Knight. “She was reliable behind the stumps all week and took a great stumping against finalists Canterbury.”

Colbert scored valuable runs across the week including putting ND into a winning position against Wellington by claiming two of the top four of their batting order.

“Paige contributed vital runs against CD and bowled some good spells without luck. She also fielded exceptionally well.

As coach, I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament,” said Mel Knight.

“It is always hard for ND and CD alike, as players only meet the day before the tournament when arriving at their accommodation, and don’t have time together as a team leading into the tournament.

“Our girls represented themselves, ND and Poverty Bay Cricket Association to a high standard and should be proud of their efforts.

“Each tournament like this is an opportunity for them to grow as cricketers and people and I hope they all enjoyed the experience, and learned a lot from it.

“Girls cricket is definitely on the rise across the country and I’d encourage as many girls as possible to play the game here.

“There are awesome opportunities to be had and an excellent pathway to success is in place.”

Results

Round 1: ND 105 (Bayleigh Colbert 13, Paige Bentley 10) lost to Central Districts 106-3 (Kayley Knight 0-2 off 3 overs) by 7 wickets.

Round 2: ND 142-9 lost to Otago 148 by six runs.

Round 3: ND 149 (Knight 50no, Mia Reeves 15) lost to Wellington 158-7 (Knight 2-22 off 6 overs, Colbert 2-11 off 3 overs) by 9 runs.

Round 4: ND 126-8 lost to Canterbury 206-6 (Knight 0-12 off 5 overs) by 80 runs.

Round 5: ND 71-9 (Colbert 14, Rubi Perano 20) lost to Auckland 72-1 (Reeves 1-5 off 1 over) by 9 wickets.

Playoff for 5th-6th: ND 115-7 def Otago 114 (K Knight 4-10 off 6 overs) by 3 wickets.

Auckland defeated Canterbury by four wickets in the final.