Auckland have beaten Central Districts in the first round of Twenty/20 matches in the Women's U21 tournamnet at Lincoln.
After Auckland posted a big score, Central struggled to keep up with the required run rate and came up short by 45 runs.
Auckland chose to bat first and would have been a mixture of pleased and yet frustrated when they reflected on their total.
Opener Arlene Kelly got the defending champions off to a solid start as she scored a well-paced 24. Alongside her was star Captain Maddie Green. Green has been in brilliant touch throughout the tournament and continued her fine run by smashing 59 from 42 deliveries.
Lauren Down also contributed as she made 28 to help her team to finish at 152 for five at the end of 20 overs.
A decent total, but it could have been so much worse for Central and so much better for Auckland. Central dismissed three batsmen through run outs, including the key wickets of Green and Down. Had there been better running between the wickets the total could have been a lot closer to 200.
In reply Central got off to a wonderful start with openers Hannah Nesbitt and Briar Cloake (14) putting on 48 for the first wicket. Nesbitt has been in blistering form so far this tournament and once again played an important innings for her team, scoring 52 from 56 deliveries.
However the run rate continued to climb for Central and with Nesbitt out it was obvious that they weren’t going to be able to put the runs on the board.
Anlo van de Venter played well for her unbeaten 30, but it was all to no avail. In the end Central were well off the pace, losing by 44 runs at 108 for two.
Despite the loss it was a great display of batting from both teams, Auckland though with just a little too much class on the day.
