Girls' First XI Cup

Rangi Ruru First XI Cricket Team Performance

The Rangi Ruru First XI Cricket team participated in the Qualifying Grade at the Regional Girls' First XI Cup Tournament. The team achieved a commendable 4th place finish in the competition.

The tournament was played across 3 days, with two T20 matches per day. With 6 teams in the Qualifying Grade, Rangi Ruru played each of the teams once in pool play before squaring up with Christchurch Girls' High School in the play off for 3rd.

Day one started with drizzle before a shortened match against St Andrews College where we set 115/2 from our 15 overs. Lucy Williams top scoring with 53*(42)and Kate Sharpe chipping in with 42(40). In reply we restricted StAC to 91/4 with Lulu Pringle picking up 3/10 from 3 overs.

The second game was against Christchurch Girls High School who set a big score of 160/6 from their 20 overs with 2 wickets to Lulu Pringle, Beau Clouston and Joannah Mulcock. After losing a wicket early in our chase, Kate Sharpe (80*) and Lucy Williams (33) rebuilt with a 102 run partnership, however we came up short and ended 137/2 from our 20. A phenomenal performance against a school that has been the powerhouse of girls' cricket in Christchurch for a number of years.

Cashmere High was first up on Day 2. Batting first we set 136/3 with Kate Sharpe 87* from 71 balls (the highest individual score of the tournament). Wickets were shared between the bowlers and we restricted Cashmere to 110/5.

A tougher assignment in the afternoon, meeting eventual winners St Margaret's College. We lost the toss and were put in to field with SMC posting the mammoth total of 179/3 helped by some wayward bowling as our players fatigued. Kate Sharpe picked up 2 wickets. It was always going to be a tough ask and SMC bowled tightly to restrict us to 94/4, Lucy Williams top scoring with 26. A much improved performance with the bat than our previous meeting at Quad.

The final day started with a fog delay before play commenced against Craighead Diocesan. Batting first we set 98/7 against a strong bowling attack with Kate Sharpe picking up another 33 runs. We picked up 2 quick wickets to have Craighead 5/2, however they rebuilt and chased our score in the 17th over. Another massive improvement in performance since we last played them.

After winning two games in pool play we made it through to the play off for 3rd. However, with some tired bodies and minds, we didn't put a great performance together. CGHS set 136/7 with 2 wickets to Kate Sharpe and Lulu Pringle while Lucy Williams took 3 catches. We lost quick wickets in the chase and were reeling at 7/3. Lucy Williams (22) and Beau Clouston (37) helped us through to a respectable 81/8.

Kate Sharpe was the top run scorer for the tournament with 254 runs from 6 innings with Lucy Williams 3rd= with 167.

This team has shown massive improvements over the last 2 months and I am so proud of the performances they put together over the 3 days. There is a huge amount of potential in this group and I am excited to see what we achieve over the next few years.

Harriet Graham has assisted me with the coaching of Rangi Ruru and has developed greatly as a coach over the last 2 months. She has been a massive source of knowledge for these girls and has built trust and respect quickly within the group. It has been my absolute pleasure to work alongside Haz (and share snacks) and I hope she continues with her coaching journey.

Winter well!