Eden has successfully defended its women’s T20 title against the Pink Cockatoos.
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However, the southern side was forced to work harder than it did last year, as the Cockatoos surged into triple figures, hitting 108 runs on Saturday morning.
The match is the second of its kind as part of the Kameruka Black Cockatoos’ Pink Stumps Day draw and provided a great spectacle for fans at Lord’s View Oval.
The hosts took to the crease first, but had to battle damp conditions early and faced a slippery ball.
Officials said the pitch was damp during the early stages, but had dried out well by the time Eden took the crease.
Emma Irvin was the standout for the Pink Cockatoos with the bat, slogging a towering six, a number of fours and capping off her efforts with 21 runs before she was returned to the sheds.
The openers also laid some good groundwork for the hosts as Natasha Anderson and Jess Martin put in a solid display of batting, keeping up the run rate in the early stages.
Eden’s bowlers were able to take advantage of the damp conditions, and pick up nine wickets against the hosts, but the Cockatoos stayed stoic to bat out their 20 overs.
Kim Flint was the pick of the Eden bowlers, not taking any wickets, but keeping the batsmen quiet at the crease.
With the target set, the Mitchell sisters provided a strong open for the Eden side, hitting a couple of fours each.
Nikki Perry returned the best figures with the ball for the Cockatoos, catching out one of the Mitchell sisters off her own bowling and returning 1/6 off a pair of overs.
Sophie Martin also claimed a wicket, clean bowling one of her Eden opponents, but the Eden side plugged away to reach the total for 2/112 in the 19th over.
Kameruka got their own back in the later C grade men’s fixture, toppling Eden by 100 runs.
Paul Cummings provided the best result for the Cockatoos, hitting a team-best 54 runs not-out, while Riley Joyce, Marty Lyons and David Schumann all hit near 30 apiece.
The Black Cockatoos dropped some wickets, but were building an immense run-rate to close out the innings on 9/208.
Liam Griffiths-Walker and Jack Newton were the pick of the Eden bowlers, scoring three wickets each.
Phil Cassie led Eden’s batting hopes with 39 runs, but it wasn’t enough the tail end fell over cheaply with the visitors going all-out for 108.
Joe Weller and Schumann shared the bowling honours for the hosts, taking three wickets apiece.
Mr Weller said the club was thrilled with the response to the day, but a donation count hadn’t been finalised.
Following the success of the second ladies contest, Mr Weller said the club is looking to make the women’s fixture an annual clash between Eden and the Pink Cockatoos.