12 Aug 2014 | Cricket
Newport Cricket Club U13 Girls retained the Lady Taverners UK National U13 Championship with convincing wins against Narborough & Littlethorpe (Leicestershire) and Enfield (London) in the National Finals Day at Leamington Spa.
Four Regional winners throughout England and Wales had qualified through to the Finals Day:
Wolverhampton (Midland Regional Winners)
Narborough & Littlethorpe (Northern Regional Winners)
Ealing (South East Regional Winners)
Newport (South West Regional Winners)
Having won the tournament in 2013, there was added pressure on the Newport Girls and with rain falling before their Semi Final with Narborough, a 5 over eliminator or 'Bowl Out' was high on the agenda! As the rain eased a little, an important toss was won by the Newport girls who put Narborough in to bat, as the game was reduced to 16 overs a team.
R.Chipman 22 and B.Blanksby 16 put on 30 off 12 overs for the first wicket, but at a slow pace against tight bowling from Charlotte Scarborough and Jess Thornton. Lauren Chambers claimed the first wicket clean bowling Chipman, which was quickly followed by a good run out by Jess Thornton. With Amy Harris also bowling well, claiming another wicket, Narborough could only reach a total of 56-3 in their 16 overs.
The total posed no problems for the Newport openers with Charlotte Scarborough (16no) and Jess Thornton (20no) scoring freely to reach the required target in the 10th over without losing a wicket.
Ealing had beaten Wolverhampton in their Semi Final to set up an intriguing Final. Now in bright sunshine, Ealing won the toss and put Newport into bat, a decision they were soon to regret. In the previous week, openers Charlotte Scarborough and Jess Thornton, had both enjoyed a successful week as members of the England U15 Super 3's training group and they quickly took control, scoring 30 off the first 5 overs. Both girls were looking in great form, matching each other shot for shot. The fifty run partnership was reached in 9 overs and a big score was looking possible. Excellent running between the wickets and quick to pounce on any loose bowling, the openers reached the 100 partnership in 16 overs before Charlotte Scarborough who had reached her own personal fifty was run out in the closing stages of the innings for an excellent 55. Jess Thornton continued to bat well, and sensible batting from Amy Harris allowed Jess to reach her own personal fifty off the last ball of the innings, to finish 50 not out. Newport scoring a very useful 126-1 in 20 overs.
When Charlotte Scarborough bowled the Ealing opener H. Latham with the very first ball of the innings, a rather dispirited Ealing knew it wasn't going to be their day. The remaining batsman battled bravely, but had no answer to the Newport bowlers and wickets fell regularly, falling to 20 all out. Scarborough finishing with 4wkts for just 5 runs and Thornton 2-12, leaving Newport winners by a stunning 106 runs. Newport were crowned UK Champions, it was a magnificent achievement to retain the Lady Taverners UK U13 National Trophy.
Team
Jess Thornton (Capt.), Charlotte Scarborough, Amy Harris, Lauren Chambers, Ellie Harlow, Molly Cooper, Beth Proctor, Catrin Phillips, Amy Evans