Hattie Vincent bowling for the Wairarapa Korus. PHOTO/LISA SIMS
JAKE BELESKI
The Wairarapa Korus got their Shrimpton Trophy campaign off to a flying start on Sunday with a tense three-wicket win over Wanganui.
The Korus lost the toss and had to field first, and regular wickets meant they eventually had Wanganui all out for 135 in the 33rd over.
The run chase was a tough one for Wairarapa, who eventually got over the line in the final over of the match.
Central Hind Melissa Hansen opened the bowling and batting for the Korus, showing her all-round importance to the side.
She finished with 4-8 off her six overs, removing both Wanganui openers and the dangerous Jess Watkin in the process.
Korus captain Esther Lanser said it was an impressive bowling display from her side.
“We only bowled seven wides, and for the most part we put the ball in the right areas on that pitch.
“Hattie Vincent bowled really well too, and she actually bowled at both Jess Watkin and Michelle Mitchell who were their two main batters.
“She bowled short of a length and really tested them which was good.”
It was the fielding aspect that had let the side down, with plenty of chances going begging.
That would be their main work-on for their next match, she said.
“We dropped six catches and missed a stumping — just about everyone on the team dropped a catch, but some of them were tough chances.
“We’re having a fielding training on Friday, so we’ll be catching 1000 balls each or something.”
The Korus made a positive start to their run chase, with openers Hansen and Gemma Sims putting on 36 for the first wicket.
Sims was dismissed first for 18, with Hansen following a short time later for 20.
At 54-4 the match was in the balance, but a crucial partnership between Georgia Atkinson (28) and Karen Bracewell (22) took the score to 92-4 before Atkinson was dismissed.
As the match went down to the wire, some late contributions from Kate Sims (10) and Tahlia Jones-Dennes (11) got the Korus within reach.
They headed into the 40th and final over needing two to win, and they managed that without incident.
“Young Tahlia scored 11 and we can’t not mention that contribution,” Lanser said.
“At a time when we needed to up the run rate she came in and did exactly that.”
Lanser said Bracewell had provided the anchor to hold the innings together, and others had batted well around her.
She was thrilled to get the win in their first match, but said there would be plenty of room for improvement in the coming weeks.
“At the end of the game Doug (Korus coach Doug Bracewell) said we played badly but still came away with a win.
“In some ways that’s a good thing because we know our best is yet to come.”
She expects this weekend’s match against Manawatu to be a step up in intensity against, but was happy with how the squad was coming together so early in the season.
“We need to improve our catching and probably our batting — there were some quite soft dismissals.
“It’s great to see some of our young players making a contribution to the team — it’s a really good thing.”
