The strength of women's cricket in the Southern Highlands was on full display last weekend, as the Highlands District Cricket Association claimed the Hill Cup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In just the second year of the competition, the HDCA side dominated both of their matches thanks to some stunning individual bowling, batting, and fielding performances.
HDCA director of women's cricket and coach of the representative women's team, Deb Waltho, said she was "absolutely stoked" with the result.
"Some of these girls that are playing in the rep squad have been playing in the men's grades for a few years, because there was no women's competition," Waltho said.
"And now they've got their own rep competition to play in and it's just fantastic. To see the girls win those games was just fantastic, and they're so chuffed."
The HDCA side played in two T20s at Jamberroo on Saturday, once against a combined South Coast/Shoalhaven side, and in the final against Illawarra.
The Southern Highlands women went into the first game significant favourites, as the combined side had struggled for numbers and could only field a team of eight.
But for the HDCA, that just meant there were more gaps to find in the field as they piled on the daunting total of 1-143.
Sam Badgery's unbeaten 66 was the highlight of the innings, while Kiera Hol (20) and Bec Keightly (23) also made noteworthy contributions.
In response, the under-strength South Coast/Shoalhaven side struggled to find meaningful partnerships and was rolled for 66, with Hilary Swan (3-3) the chief destroyer.
The 77-run win propelled the HDCA into the final full of confidence, which Waltho knew they would need against Illawarra, who have historically been very hard to beat in rep cricket.
"We thought it was going to be tighter than it was," Waltho said.
"They have one very, very strong batter who was their key batter, and we got her out really quickly with a fantastic catch from Irene Fava. That was was the turning point in that game, because when we played them last year, she scored a lot of runs and did a lot of damage.
"I think getting that one key player out, they didn't have the depth of batting that our side had, and on that field that day [it was enough]."
So it proved for the HDCA, as Illawarra struggled to compensate for a number of absent players who elected not to take part after being chosen to represent the Illawarra Flames in the Regional Bash.
Batting first, the HDCA could not play with the same freedom they first in the opening match largely due to Illawarra's restrictive bowling.
However, the side still managed to put forward 6-110, a more than competitive total considering the strength of their bowling lineup.
Lauren Friend was the high scorer for the second game, with a knock of 42 which was supported by Keightly (18 not out) and Rachel Martin (17).
In response, Illawarra could only post 53 as the HDCA ran through their lineup. Badgery followed up her half-century in the first game with 2-8 in the second, while Shania Martin bowled a miserly spell to take 2-4. Rachel Martin (1-1) and Charlotte Menzies (1-5) were also among the wickets.
While you're with us...
Did you know Southern Highland News is now offering breaking news alerts and a weekly email newsletter? Keep up-to-date with all the local news: sign up here.
