On a very sunny, hot afternoon the East won the toss and put the South into bat.
This initially proved to be a very good decision as the South lost their top four batswomen for 9 runs between them . Wayward bowling and poor fielding on a bumpy outfield caused numerous byes and allowed the South to progress to 54 when they lost their 5th wicket. An unbroken stand of 116 between Whittaker and Fox then dominated the remainder of the inning although they did ride their luck.
The East began their inning in much the same way loosing Kirby and Siddown for only 10 runs on the board but a third wicket stand of 117 between skipper Amy Halloran (97no) and Claire Nicholson (34) put the East on the road to victory. With Megan Davies going in the same over it was left to Jessica Pidgeon(12) to steady the ship with her Skipper but when she was bowled for 12 the pressure mounted. It was youngster Ailish Ward (8no) who eventually stayed with her captain running a quick single to win the match with 2 balls left.
Chairman of East Yorkshire Girls Cricket Development Group, Peter Todd congratulated both teams on a great contest, he said,
“This was a fantastic game of cricket finishing with only two balls to go. It is a credit to both South Yorkshire and the East coaches for helping develop these players.”
“Amy Halloran’s 97 not out was the key to the win, an outstanding performance, which shows why she has been selected on the elite Yorkshire Pathways Player Scheme at her age group.”
“The East have yet to play West Yorkshire which will be a stiff test but with a full team out they will certainly give them a stiffer test than in the last few years.”
South Yorkshire 170 for 5 (Whittaker 41no, Fox 47no)(Siddown 2 for22)
East Yorkshire 171 for 5 (Halloran 97no , Nicholson 34) (T Graces 3 for 36 ,Hildritch 2 for 17)
