Canterbury has escaped with an unlikely victory from their third round Women’s U-21 match against Northern Districts.
Chasing 175 to win, Canterbury looked like they were going to fall well short, but an incredible effort from the tail gave them a two wicket victory in the 47th over.
Canterbury opted to bowl first and got off to the perfect start, reducing Northern to ten for two. This brought Felicity Leydon-Davis and Rhiana Vincent to the crease and together the pair put on a marvellous display of batting to take Northern to 70 for two. Leydon-Davis was dismissed for 35, but Vincent pressed on and brought up her half century in the final over of the innings.
It was a sensible innings from the captain too help her team to finish up on 176 for eight at the end of the 50 overs.
In reply Canterbury looked unsettled and despite starts from Hana Mauafu (20) and Hannah Linton (20), they found themselves in desperate trouble at 118 for seven, still 59 runs short of their target.
Northern might have been on top, but Lauren Hughes and Jacinta Savage weren’t ready to give up yet and miraculously went on to lead Canterbury to victory.
Savage top scored with 27, but it was wicket-keeper Hughes who scored the winning runs with three overs to spare.
It was a great win for the home team, but Northern will be rueing missed opportunities to kill the game off early. Leydon –Davis completed a successful individual performance with figures of three for 18 from ten overs, unfortunately it wouldn’t be enough.
