The New Zealand Emerging Players have finished off their series against the Australian Under-21 team with a thrilling 37 run victory at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln.
Having won the toss New Zealand opted to bat first and few could have predicted the start they would get off to.
Nat Dodd and newly promoted opener Meg Kendal both blitzed their way to half centuries and put on an incredible 133 for the first wicket.
Kendal fell for 58, but the Emerging Players continued to push on through Dodd and Janet Brehaut and made sure the Aussies were going to have a very difficult task chasing down their total.
Dodd was dismissed for 77 and Janet Brehaut scored her second half century of the series with 57, as the Emerging players finished their 50 overs with the imposing score of 283 for six.
Australia used a total of nine bowlers throughout the innings, with Holly Ferling collecting the best figures of two for 17 off four overs.
In reply Australia quickly made it obvious that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for the Kiwis, as they put on a whopping 142 for the first wicket.
Katie Mac was the first to go for 75 and a small collapse followed as the Aussies fell to 158 for four.
However opener Beth Mooney remained.
Mooney continued to steer her side towards an unlikely victory, brining up a spectacular century on the way. Erin Burns also assisted with a quick-fire 19.
Unfortunately for the Australians they had lost wickets too regularly and fell just short of their target.
Mooney was dismissed for 103 and the Emerging Players proceeded to clean up the tail. After 45.3 overs the Kiwis had their rivals out for 246, still 38 short of their target.
Frances Mackay was the best of the bowlers and picked up figures of two for 18 from four overs.
It was a fantastic finish to the series for the Emerging Players, who battled hard and deserved victory. Both teams will be happy with the rising talent in their countries and feel they got a lot out of the tournament.
