Women’s Hardball and Softball Plate champions crowned

Women’s Hardball Welsh Cup and Softball Plate champions crowned

It was a brilliant weekend for women’s cricket in Wales as eight teams from across the country battled it out for the Women’s Hardball and Softball Plate titles across Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September.

On Saturday, the Vale Cricket Club hosted Panthers CC, Radyr CC, Cresselly CC and Newport CC to compete for the inaugural Hardball crown.

In the first semi-final, Panthers set a target of 117 with 116/5 from their 20 overs, with Radyr subsequently putting in a brilliant batting shift to score 117/1 and book their place in the final.

Lydia Clemetns took the plaudits, bowling 1-14 off four overs before running 50 not out off 50 balls.

In the other semi-final, Newport bowled well against Cresselly, with Lottie Williams in particular claiming three wickets in her three overs, but found their opponents’ total of 141 too steep to match as Cresselly progressed to the final.

There, Clements enjoyed another strong innings, racking up 29 not out while her sister Carmen scored 27 not out, as Radyr chased down Cresselly’s total in 6.3 overs to become the inaugural Women’s Hardball Welsh Cup winners.

Huge thanks must go to Vale CC for superb hospitality on what was a brilliantly well supported day, with fans of all clubs, particular those travelling from Cresselly, demonstrating the passion for women’s cricket across Wales.

Sunday brought with it another final, as Newport Fugitives, Buckley CC, Dinas Powys CC and Bronwydd CC played it out for the Women’s Softball crown at Colwyn Bay CC.

Buckley claimed a narrow five-run win in the first semi-final, with Sarah Sprowell doing particularly well to take two wickets for just seven runs before the team chased down Newport Fugitives’ 126/7 with 111/3 for a net score of 296.

Also claiming a spot in the final were Dinas Powys, whose Ellie Paige Symons shone with three wickets for just five runs before her and her colleagues scored 92/2 to post a net score of 282 and win the semi-final against Bronwydd by 41 runs.

In the final, the team continued its strong form to chase down Buckley’s target with a score of 125/7 for 290 net runs and retain the Plate.

On another day of celebration for women’s cricket in Wales, we’d like to thank Colwyn Bay CC for their amazing hospitality, hosting what was the first final to be played in North Wales.

It was fantastic to see such brilliant cricket on display across the two competition Finals days, reinforcing the quality and development of women’s cricket across the nation.

Well done to all of the partaking teams, and congratulations to Radyr CC and Dinas Powys CC on their successes.