TOM HAYES
CRICKET
LVDCL WOMEN’S DIVISION By TOM HAYES WILLOW GROVE have claimed the Latrobe Valley & District Cricket League Women’s Division premiership, defeating Raiders in the Grand Final. A crowd gathered at Apex Park, Traralgon to see the two sides go head to head for premiership glory. Raiders won the toss and elected to bat, beginning to lose wickets from the offing. Raiders’ openers Kristen Webber and Renee Carr were both dismissed in the opening over, the score reading 2/2. Zoe Quincey-Munro was next to depart shortly after for just three runs, leaving Raiders stumped at 3/6. Jenny Whitney was the fourth wicket to fall, and also the last, as Susie Blines and Leah Henderson combined to score 61 runs and end the Raiders innings at 4/80. Abigail Davey claimed 2/14 from her spell, while Montana Donoghue and Kate Wheildon snagged a wicket each. With a target score of 81, Willow Grove began confidently. Donoghue and Bridee Clymo put on 21 runs for the first wicket, before Donoghue was dismissed for nine runs. Bridee would combine with Simone Clymo, until the former retired on 30 runs. Simone’s departure at 2/77 would have struck some nerves through the Willow Grove camp, who were only a handful of runs away from victory. Especially after Davey was run out by Tanya Hunt and Quincey-Munro for a duck. Yet, the end was near, as Willow Grove hit the winning runs in the penultimate over, winning the Grand Final by seven wickets. Finishing with a total of 3/82, Willow Grove completed the chase with seven deliveries in the bank. Blines grabbed the other two wickets for Raiders, finishing with figures of 2/19 from her four overs. Along with her 25 not out, she claimed the Player of the Match, despite being on the losing side.
