ACT/NSW Country sweep Under 15 Championships

ACT/NSW Country has stormed the female Under 15 National Championships and claimed their inaugural title after defeating ladder-leaders Queensland in Hobart.

The ACT/NSW Country team entered the final only 0.28 points ahead of third-placed Victoria but made the most of their opportunities, garnering their first series win in the tournament’s 15-year history.

Buoyed by a captain’s performance of 4-17 and 21 at the top of the order, Wagga Wagga’s Rachel Trenaman surpassed her state’s highest ever aggregate in the process, compiling 364 runs at an average of 72.8, 15 runs more than her predecessor.

Batting first on the Lindisfarne Oval, ACT/NSW didn’t lose a wicket until Anita Handono (14) lofted one at catchable height off the bowling of competition leading-wicket-taker Lily Mills (2-25) with the score at 43.

The eventual championships crept to 134 seven balls before the compulsory close with Sunshine Coast quick Courtney Sippel taking 2-30, boosting her overall tally to 11 wickets.

Unfortunately for the undefeated Queensland, their run was halted by tight bowling and the pressure of the chase, falling 40 runs shy in the 29^th over and handing ACT/NSW their first Christina Matthews Shield victory, the second year-in-a-row where Queensland have finished runners-up.

Victoria’s Annabel Sutherland was adjudged ‘Player of the Series’ on 20 votes, one ahead of tournament run-leader Rachel Trenaman with Sutherland’s teammate Sophie Van de Heuvel rounding out the podium finishes.

Queensland’s Lilly Mills claimed the leading wicket taker with 17 wickets at an average of 7.18 with Western Australia’s Georgie Island affecting more fielding dismissals than anyone else with 12.

AWARD WINNERS:

Player of the Series: Annabel Sutherland (Victoria) – 20 votes

Leading Run Scorer: Rachel Trenaman (ACT/NSW Country) – 364 runs

Leading Wicket Taker: Lilly Mills (Queensland) – 17 wickets

Most Dismissals by a Fielder – Georgie Island (12 dismissals)

TEAM OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Rachel Trenaman (ACT/NSW Country), Emma Hughes (ACT/NSW Country), Taylah Knight (ACT/NSW Country), Sarah Turner (CAXI), Maddie Darke (NSW), Hannah Darlington (NSW), Isabel Arafas (NSW), Stella Campbell (NSW), Olivia Porter (NSW), Courtney Sippel (QLD), Lilly Mills (QLD), Renee Irvine (QLD), Emma de Broughe (SA), Maddi Newman (SA), Sophie Roberts (SA), Sophie Van de Heuvel (VIC), Annabel Sutherland (VIC), Rosie Wynd (VIC), Teagan Brett (VIC), Erika Quinn (VIC), Georgia Middleton (WA)