LAST Sunday saw the last round of Women’s Premier Firsts action before the Christmas break, with Melbourne’s unpredictable weather causing havoc on all teams involved.

Over at Princess Park, it was Carlton who finished the 2021 half of the season on a high, defeating Plenty Valley. Carlton won the toss and batted first, and wickets were certainly hard to come by for Plenty Valley.  

Openers Sophie Reid and Cailin Green put on an 88 run opening partnership before Reid was bowled. Green and Nipuni Hansika then put on a 67 run partnership before Green was bowled. Hansika and Eve Sheehan were then able to put on another solid partnership before the Blues finished on 3/251. Green top scored with 63, while Hansika scored 59.

Jasmine Nevins, Aanliya Cheeran and Ribhya Syan were the best of Plenty Valley’s bowlers, taking one wicket each.

In reply, Plenty Valley just lost far too many wickets too quickly and in the end finished on 9/126. Nevins and Navleen Sandhu both finished on 26 runs, but only two other batters made double figures.

Madison Albers was the pick of the bowlers for the Blues, taking three wickets. Ella Baulch took two wickets, while Green and Maryam Omar took one each.

Box Hill’s inconsistent season continued, this time comfortably beaten by Dandenong at home. Batting first, Dandenong was bowled out for only 130. Losing too many wickets too quickly meant that the Dandenong innings never really got going and they could not create many partnerships more than about 20 runs. Evie Stansby was the top scorer for the Panthers with 35, but apart from her, only two other batters made double figures.

Isabel White and Holly Spencer both continued their great first half of the season form, taking three wickets each. Danielle Montague nabbed two, while Sunny Plant took one.

In reply, Box Hill’s innings started in disaster when Lara Shannon was caught for a duck to leave the Mustangs reeling at 1/1. Spencer was dismissed two runs later and things were looking up for Dandenong. In the end, a stellar bowling performance from Dandenong saw Box Hill bowled out for 98 and the Panthers earn themselves the win and a bonus point. Zoe Griffiths top scored with 29, but with four batters not making a single run things were always going to be difficult for the Mustangs.

Chelsea Moscript, Cassie Stephens and Julie Fearns were all the leading wicket takers for Dandenong, taking two wickets each.

Batting first, things got off to a bit of a disaster for the Rams, losing their first wicket at only 1/4. After that, things did start to improve for Ringwood. The next partnership between Una Raymond-Hoey and Olivia Henry resulted in 117 runs. Unfortunately Melbourne’s typical weather played havoc, and so Ringwood’s innings finished at 2/178 off 27.2 overs. Henry and Raymond – Hoey scored the vast majority of Ringwood’s runs, hitting scores of 64 and 67 respectively.

Merinda Hale and Diya Redhu were the wicket takers for the True Blues.

Prahran’s Duckworth – Lewis target was set at 228, and they set about chasing that target. However, things didn’t get off to a great start for them when they found themselves at 1/5.

After losing their first four wickets for only 26 runs, things were starting to look difficult for Prahran and in the end they got nowhere close to the target, finishing at 7/108. Only four batters made double figures, with Hale top scoring on 26.

Meanwhile for Ringwood, Erin Carroll, Olivia Thomas and Kristy Arulrajah took two wickets each, while Hailey Ferris took the other wicket.

Melbourne continued its undefeated run in this early part of the season, accounting for Essendon Maribyrnong Park (EMP). EMP won the toss and sent the Dees into bat, with the Dees posting a competitive 255 off 46.3 overs.

Zoe Samuel was the star with the bat for the Dees, posting 60, while skipper Teagan Parker made 38. Milly Illingworth, Georgia Gall and Grace Jones were the pick of the Bomber bowlers with two wickets apiece.

In reply, a 75 from Katia Jomini was not enough as the Bombers could only make 8/170 off their overs handing the Dees the win. Ella Hayward, Hasrat Gill and Lucy Page each took two wickets for the Dees.