By Elliot Stevenson
The Greater Northern Raiders have won a sixth consecutive match in the women’s Kookaburra Cup, defeating New Town by a comprehensive ten wickets at UTAS Stadium on Sunday.
Two-time Kim Fazackerley medallist Emma Manix-Geeves was the big name return for the Raiders, hitting 63 not out off 53 balls to help her side cruise home with 37.2 overs remaining.
Coach Andy Gower praised the star batter, as well as all state-contracted players who make the effort to represent the Raiders.
“She’s super,” he said. “We just love having her around.”
“She's a northern local and she brings great leadership to the group.
“She's a fantastic player and a fantastic human.
“We just love having any of the state girls in our team.
“Courtney Sippel jumps through hoops to make sure she plays whenever there's an opportunity and obviously Ava [Curtis] our leader.
“We’re wrapped to have those three ladies around and we've still got Hayley [Silver-Holmes] and Ruth [Johnston] to come back in at some stage, so it sets us up nicely for the back end of the season.”
A disciplined bowling performance by Greater Northern restricted New Town to just 93 off 40.4 overs, with a strikingly low run rate of 2.29.
The win marks the Raiders sixth in a row, dating back to a loss to the Bucks at the beginning of November, towards the end of the T20 regular season.
Each victory has been markedly dominant, with a 10-run triumph over Clarence the only game that could have seemingly been won by either side.
Gower understands the importance of winning with conviction in a competition with a small pool of teams.
“We understand that bonus points are really important early on in the season,” he said.
“If you can get one or two bonus points per game, you can break away from the pack.
“Being five teams in the competition, it's critical to where you're going to finish. That’s another thing that we've been looking at.
“The way Emma and Montana [Bradley] attacked that target yesterday was fantastic.”
The Raiders are currently sitting at the apex of the CTPL one-day ladder, on the same points with Kingborough with a game in hand.
The success is coming after a T20 season in which Greater Northern won five and lost six, finishing third and narrowly missing out on the grand final at Ninja Stadium.
“We were a little bit disappointed with our T20 campaign,” Gower said.
“So, we put a lot of focus back on to getting some winning culture back in amongst the group for the one-day campaign.
“And a lot of our more experienced ladies have stepped up and done some really good work over the last six to eight weeks and we've been on the right end of some really good wins.”
Kingborough dismantled Clarence, winning by eight wickets at Kangaroo Bay Oval on Sunday.
The Knights won the toss and sent the hosts into bat, tearing through them in just 22.3 overs for 61.
Shelby Leonard (3/6 off 5 overs) and Asha Ratcliffe (3/7 off 4 overs) were at the forefront of the Kingborough attack, ensuring the chase was purely procedural.
Knights’ leading run scorer this season, Amy Gordon (42 not out off 26 balls), led the chase, losing two partners but reaching the target in under ten overs to secure the victory.
Now on equal points with Greater Northern, Kingborough is in a strong position to appear in the Kookaburra Cup grand final in March in their first season back in the premier grade.
In the men’s competition, New Town and South Hobart-Sandy Bay will enter day two with horns locked, with the Bucks trailing their opponents by 154 runs with seven wickets in hand.
Sharks’ batsman Tom Willoughby (63 off 166 balls) was diligent in his approach as his side posted 182.
Offspinner Joe Graham did the damage for the Bucks, taking 4/64 off a mammoth 32 overs.
Needing some inspiration, South Hobart-Sandy Bay turned to experienced seamer Gabe Bell to work his magic.
Bell dismissed both New Town openers caught behind, with Hayden Cross falling to Archie Banks-Smith in between Bell’s breakthroughs.
The Bucks ended the day at 3-28, with plenty of work remaining this Saturday.
University is in a commanding position over Kingborough at the Twin Ovals in a rematch of last year’s two-day grand final.
Uni openers Zac Phair (27 off 55 balls) and Jake Doran (41 off 39 balls) got starts but were unable to kick on, before Jed Palser (31 not out off 93 balls) took charge alongside inspirational skipper Ruwantha Kellapotha (61 not out off 65 balls).
The Lions ended the day at 3-181 in what promises to be their best batting performance in any red-ball game this season.
Glenorchy also performed strongly with the bat on Saturday, making 4-253 away against Lindisfarne as it tries to maintain touch with the top four.
A 136-run partnership between Ryan Graham-Daft (65 off 178 balls) and Vishwa Deemantha (74 off 160 balls) kickstarted the day for the Magpies, before Kasun Balasuriya (44 not out off 85 balls) added valuable runs.
Balasuriya is set to resume at the crease alongside Tarkyn Jones when play continues at Lindisfarne Oval on Saturday.
Glenorchy currently sits sixth on the overall CTPL ladder, 11 points adrift of Kingborough in fourth.
North Hobart managed 9-202 against the Kookaburra Cup premier Greater Northern Raiders at the TCA Ground, with Sanjay Anandarajah (51 not out off 93 balls) crucially still at the crease.
Anandarajah was the best with the bat for the Demons, with Lewis Drury (40 off 136 balls) also providing higher up the order.
It was an economic day for the Raiders’ bowlers, with Sam Omahony (3/71 off 15 overs) the most expensive but the most effective.