The first day of the U15 girls’ Interprovincial series took place today in Campbell College, Belfast, with two wins apiece for the two Leinster teams on show.
The Leinster 1 squad is as follows;
The Leinster 2 squad can be seen below
Both captains – Alice Tector for Leinster 1 and Izzy McLean for Leinster 2 – won the toss in their first matches. Leinster 1 opted to bowl first against the NCU with plenty of different bowling options used. Pick of the bowlers were Jessica Robinson (3-0-6-2), Giulia Trolese (2-0-12-2) and Niamh MacNulty (3-1-7-1). The NCU finished on a total of 93-8 from their 20 overs, the run-outs of both of their openers perhaps costing them on the scoreboard.
The chase was dominated by-hard hitting Rachel Byrne, who blasted 59* out of the required 94, ably supported by Tector who made 26*. Leinster won the match by 10 wickets, using only 13 of their overs to do so.
Leinster 2 batted first against the NWCU, setting an imposing target of 115 with the loss of five on a ground with a lush outfield. Runs were shared around, Gemma Sargent (29*) and Izzy McLean (17) the top scorers. Vice-captain Diya Syam tore the heart out of the NWCU batting line-up on a day she won’t soon forget, taking an incredible 5 wickets – four of them bowled - in her two overs with just six runs scored from her 12 deliveries. The other wicket-takers were Mabel O’Donohoe (2-0-11-2), Elyse Jones (2-0-6-1) and Niamh Worrell (0.2-0-0-1) as Leinster 2 bowled out their opposition for 51 to win by 64 runs.
After a well-deserved rest and some much needed refreshment, the two Northern teams swapped pitches to take on the Leinster team they had not already played. Tector once again won the toss, but opted to bat first in the second game while McLean lost her toss; her side were sent in to bat first again.
McLean’s team played an attacking brand of cricket with runs again shared around, Aimee Maguire (20) and Chloe Ericson (19) making the biggest contributions in the second match. It was deja vu as McLean’s team set the NCU the same target as they had set the NWCU earlier in the day – 116, losing seven wickets in the innings. There were two wickets apiece for Syam (2.2-0-10-2), McLean (4-0-22-2), Sargent (3-0-9-2) and Ericson (3-0-13-2), two run outs accounting for the other two dismissals as Leinster 2 took all 10 wickets to win by 40 runs.
On the other pitch, Leinster 1 started slowly with some wily swing-bowling proving difficult to get away. With pressure on to score runs, Leinster batters one, two and three were run out attempting to take a run to short third man, the same fielder hitting direct each time. More batters got a chance out in the middle in this innings with contributions from Sarah O’Reilly (13), Zoe Bell (13), Byrne (12) and Lara Kumar (12*). Tector’s team made 94/5 in their allotment. The Leinster team took their catching and run-out chances in a much-improved fielding performance. With three run outs and three catches, the fielders backed up the bowlers. All of the bowlers took a wicket with Robinson (3-0-9-2) again picking up a brace helping to dismiss the NWCU for 56 and win by 38 runs.