THE Christmas/New Year break is over, and it was back to work in the Victorian Women’s Premier 1sts last weekend.

Among last weekend’s action we saw Melbourne continue to be the team to beat this season, and Prahran finally register another win on the board.

Carlton won the toss and elected to bat first. It paid dividends as openers Sophie Reid and Cailin Green put on a 172-run opening stand. Things started to slow down a bit once those two were dismissed, but Carlton ultimately still made an impressive 8/241 off their 50 overs.

Unsurprisingly, it was Reid and Green who were the top scorers for the Blues. Reid made 84, while Green made 66.

Teenager Ashling O’Farrell was the top wicket taker for the Mustangs. She took 2/27 off her seven overs, which included one maiden. She also took a catch and assisted in a runout. Danielle Montague, Isabel White, Sunny Plant and Sayali Abhyankar each took one wicket.

In response, Box Hill did not have a start nearly as good, and quite frankly never really recovered from there. In the end they were only able to make 8/178 off their 50 overs. Skipper Zoe Griffiths was top scorer with 60, but the next highest was Anna Lanning with 27.

Eve Sheehan and Rebeka Vandort were the top wicket takers for Carlton with two each, while Madison Albers, Sara Kennedy, Green and Maryam Omar each took one.

Melbourne continued its dominant season, this time easily accounting for Plenty Valley. Plenty Valley won the toss and elected to bat, and things did not go to plan at all. The Bats just lost far too many wickets too quickly, and were bowled out for 110 halfway through the 44th over.

Jessie Hulett was the top scorer for the Bats with 35, but only two other batters made double figure scores. Ella Hayward and Hasrat Gill were the stars with the ball for the Dees, with both taking three wickets.

Anna O’Donnell, Zoe Samuel and Erika Quinn also each took a wicket.

The target was an easy one for Melbourne to reach in the end, ultimately taking only 20 overs and losing one wicket. Rhiann O’Donnell was the top scorer for Melbourne with 51 not out. Jane Riley was the only wicket taker for Plenty Valley.

Prahran finally got its second win for the season on the board, defeating Essendon Maribyrnong Park (EMP). EMP won the toss and sent Prahran into bat.

Although the True Blues got off to a bit of a slow start, losing their first wicket after only scoring 20 runs, things slowly built from there and they ultimately made 6/176 off their 50 overs. Skipper Jennifer Taffs was the top scorer for Prahran with 48, while Rhys McKenna made 43.

Georgia Gall and Makinley Blows each took two wickets for the Bombers, while Milly Illingworth and Grace Jones each took one.

In reply, EMP got off to a better start then Prahran did, but after they lost their first wicket things started to fall apart. They went from 1/70 to find themselves at 5/73 and never really recovered from there.In the end they were bowled out for 149 in the 46th over. Blows was top scorer with 30, while Katia Jomini made 22 and Tia Davidge made 21.

Sophie Day and Merinda Hale were the top wicket takers for the True Blues, taking three wickets each. McKenna, Maddison Heitlinger, Elizabeth Cormack and Samara Dulvin each took one wicket.

Dandenong batted first, and after a 62-run opening stand between Tiana Atkinson and Chelsea Moscript, Dandenong did not manage any partnerships anywhere near as big for the rest of the innings. The Panthers were ultimately bowled out for 184 in the penultimate over.

Moscript and Atkinson were the top scorers for the Panthers, making 45 and 23 respectively. Teens Erin Carroll and Tegan Rule both took two wickets, while Chloe Blacker, Bhavisha Devchand, Hailey Ferris and Kristy Arulrajah all took one each.

In reply, things came down to the wire but in the end Ringwood just could not quite get the job done. They were bowled out for 177 on the last ball. Arulrajah top scored with 58, while Ferris made 27.

Moscript was a star with the ball for the Panthers, taking 4/50 off her 10 overs. Julie Fearns took three, while Cassie Stephens took two and Uvindee Wijesena took one.