The Kamo Intermediate School girls cricket team smile after going through unbeaten at the national primary school shield Northern Districts qualifiers over the past week in Papamoa. Photo / Supplied
The Kamo Intermediate School girls cricket team smile after going through unbeaten at the national primary school shield Northern Districts qualifiers over the past week in Papamoa. Photo / Supplied
The future of women's cricket in Northland is looking bright after Kamo Intermediate School's (KIS) girls cricket team took out the Northern Districts qualification tournament for the national primary school shield this week.
KIS emerged deserved winners at the T20 tournament in Papamoa after winning all four games against Morrinsville Intermediate, Tauranga Intermediate, Mount Maunganui Intermediate and Gisborne Intermediate. The team have now qualified for a national competition against sides from the five other New Zealand regions.
A team from the same school went to the tournament last year where they lost every game and finished last. Now, the group of eager, young cricketers will compete at the national tournament, something no other Northland school team has done in about four years.
This year's team only featured two of last year's side and included several girls who had never played cricket.
"I was so nervous for those girls who hadn't played that it would put them off, but I could not believe that it was my team out there, I was in awe," coach Jess Turner said.
KIS qualified for this Northern Districts competition by beating other Whangārei teams in a local competition about a month ago. After the horrors of last year, Turner prepared her troops well for what lay ahead.
"This time, I just said to the girls that we knew what happened last year and that it was a big step up from the competition in Whangārei so they needed to be prepared for fast bowling and good fielders," she said
"I think mentally they knew they needed to step up and they sure did, they just played out of their skin."
KIS first played Morrinsville Intermediate on Monday. Morrinsville were the winners of the domestic and national tournaments last year but KIS produced a stunning performance, scoring 179 for 2 off their 20 overs.
Opening batters and co-captains Mia Chatterton and Kate Illerbrun put on 125 for the first wicket, almost confirming the win for the Northland side. Chatterton backed up her batting with the ball, taking four wickets. With Ela Jerez also taking three wickets, they dismantled the Morrinsville line-up for just 45 runs.
The Northland team beat last year's national champions, Morrinsville Intermediate School, and qualified for the national tournament in November. Photo / Supplied
Rain washed out any chance of play on Tuesday morning but with the sun out in the afternoon, KIS scraped through their game against Tauranga Intermediate before facing Gisborne Intermediate afterwards.
Gisborne went into the game fresh as it was their first game while KIS were forced to field 40 overs in a row as their opponents chose to bat first. After starting with a wicket on the second ball of the innings, KIS kept the pressure on and bowled Gisborne out for 72 in a weather-impacted 15-over game.
When KIS were at just 27 runs with seven overs to go, their batters decided to up the scoring rate to more than 10 runs per over at some stages. With six runs required off the final over, KIS batter Aimee Lindsay stepped up and hit the third ball for four, sealing the victory.
KIS sailed through their final game against Mount Maunganui, finishing the game with a run-out and confirming their spot in the national tournament.
"Once we got the last wicket, the girls realised what they achieved and they stopped and looked at each other and then just did this big cheer and hugged each other," Turner said.
"It was just incredible for a team, half of which had never played before, to go out and win a Northern Districts competition, it's pretty awesome."
Chatterton was the stand-out at the tournament, taking home the titles of leading run-scorer and wicket-taker as well as taking two catches and affecting two run outs.
Turner commended both Chatterton and Illerbrun over their leadership throughout the tournament and said their experience in tight situations carried the team through.
Looking ahead to the national tournament in November in Christchurch, Turner said the team's underdog status would only give them more confidence going into the competition.
"Once again, we've got nothing to lose down there, it'll be another step up but we'll be ready for that, we've got a bit longer to prepare for it."
The KIS boys cricket team will hope to match the achievements of their female counterparts when they compete in the same Northern Districts qualifying tournament for boys in Cambridge from Sunday to Tuesday.
Teams from Kamo High School and Whangārei Boys' High School had just finished similar qualification tournaments this week, but neither progressed to national tournaments.
