Thomas Ton Leads U13 Girls to Dominant Victory

11th July 2016 | Mallory Gray

Century-maker, Sophie Thomas of Radyr CC, pictured here with her Dad, Geraint,

when she made her debut for Radyr 4ths last September

Wales U13 girls continued their impressive start to the season with a comprehensive 45-run win over Gloucestershire at St. Fagans CC over the weekend. Captain Ellie Chahal won the toss and decided to bat first, looking to post a good score now that the rain appeared to have cleared. However, the girls found themselves in a tricky position at 17-3 until Nicole Voke and Sophie Thomas steadied the innings confidently before Voke fell for 20 with the score having progressed to 77. Sophia Smale then came to the crease, allowing the pair to bat positively for the majority of the remaining overs, with Thomas brilliantly cruising to a remarkable maiden hundred. She struck 105 off just 89 balls including 18 fours, just one demonstration of the young emerging talent within Cricket Wales’ thriving junior girls section. Smale ended on 36 not out, allowing the young side to post a promising 203-5 off their allocation of 35 overs.            

With such an impressive score on the board, the girls began the second innings feeling extremely proud and confident of their efforts. Although Gloucestershire managed to reach 158, the girls maintained the pressure by taking regular wickets throughout the innings, with Zoe Dibble high-scoring with 32. Gwenno Manley was the pick of the Wales bowlers taking 3-17, with the remaining wickets shared fairly evenly by the bowlers.

The girls should take the confidence from this performance through to their remaining games, and hopefully grant them greater success throughout the summer.