16th September 2013
| Mallory Gray
Jess Thornton receives the Trophy from Lisa Drummond
Newport Cricket Club’s U13 girl cricketers performed heroically, beating Walmley (Midlands) in the semi final and then Ealing (London & South)in the Final, to win the prestigious UK Lady Taverners U13 T20 Cup at Challow & Childrey Cricket Club in Oxfordshire.
Newport were given a tough semi-final draw against Walmley (Midlands), the team who had beaten the Club’s U15 Girls in the U15 UK Final last week. With rain never far away the semi-finals were reduced to 16 overs per side. Determined to gain revenge for their U15 club mates, Newport won the toss and put Walmley into bat on a cloudy overcast day. Walmley made an excellent start, racing to 35 off just 5 overs, before losing I. Bottrell for 10, bowled by Jess Thornton. With the Newport bowlers gaining in confidence, 3 further Walmley wickets fell for just 10 runs, including the dangerous Georgia Ballinger for 19, as Walmley slipped to 47-4. The Newport bowlers had begun to adapt to the adverse conditions, with Charlotte Scarborough, Sophie Osborn and Meg Simkins each claiming a wicket. Runs were becoming more difficult, but a 20 run partnership between A. Dixon and M.Burke helped Walmley towards a useful total. However, with the loss of Dixon, brilliantly caught by Lauren Chambers off the bowling of Osborn for 20, the remaining batsmen could do little more than play out the remaining 2 overs, Walmley reaching a useful 71-6 from their allotted 16 overs. Pick of the Newport bowlers were Meg Simkins and Sophie Osborn, both with 2-15 from their 4 overs.
Having to score at nearly 5 runs per over, Newport made an impressive start, with 13 off the first over and 24 off 3 overs as Charlotte Scarborough and Jess Thornton cut loose. The Walmley bowlers were never allowed to settle and both batsmen played magnificent shots all around the wicket, reaching the 50 partnership in just 6 overs. It was a faultless display of batting and Newport raced to their target of 72 runs without loss, in 9 overs, with Charlotte Scarborough scoring 38 n.o. and Jess Thornton 11 no.
In the other semi-final Ealing (London & South) had easily beaten Westbury (Bucks) to set up a meeting between two clubs, who last met when the Newport U13 boys beat them in the UK U13 National Cup Final at Oakham in 2010.In the UK LT Final. Ealing won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision which proved costly. Ealing made a fast start reaching 18 off just 3 overs, before opening batsman S. Dyson (9) was bowled by Osborn. G. Bently was joined by Z. Latif and were looking in control at 35-1 off 6 overs. However, the introduction of Captain Jess Thornton had an immediate impact, bowling Latif for 7, and when Bently was brilliantly run out by Sophie Osborn the game changed dramatically in Newport’s favour. 3 wickets for 0 runs in 3 overs had seen Ealing slump to 35-4. It was a long way back for Ealing and worse was to follow, as Thornton with her leg spin claimed another wicket before Meg Simkins came on to take the final 2 wickets as Ealing were all out for a meagre 49 in 11 overs. All of the Newport bowlers bowled well with Jess Thornton 2-10 and Meg Simkins 2-1 being the main wicket takers. Newport were in buoyant mood, but no sooner had they bowled Ealing out, the rain began to fall. With bad weather forecast, Newport started their reply in positive fashion, racing to 13 off just 2 overs before Jess Thornton was bowled for 7. Charlotte Scarborough (20 n.o.) was again proving to be a tower of strength for Newport and with Sophie Osborn (16 n.o.) they made an unbroken 37 run partnership to see Newport home to a comfortable victory to claim the UK Lady Taverners U13 T20 Cup.
In becoming UK Lady Taverners U13 National Cup Winners it was the first time a Welsh Club had won the Trophy and is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved in Girls Cricket at the Club. Head Coach Mike Knight commented, ‘The Girls' section of the Club has been phenomenal this year and to win the UK Trophy the week after the U15 team had lost in their UK Final shows the strength of Girls' cricket at the Club. The girls really showed their class today and thoroughly deserved to win the accolade of best in the UK
’Squad : Jess Thornton (Captain), Lauren Chambers, Amy Harris, Nicol Helkvist, Caitie Lake, Charlotte Mould, Sophie Osborn, Charlotte Scarborough, Meg Simkins, Aimee Watson.