JPC Maidens lead the way for girls' cricket

All-girl cricket team the JPC Maidens made their debut on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

Girl power was the theme on Saturday as John Paul College's all-girl cricket team the JPC Maidens played their debut match.

The girls have had midweek coaching sessions at school through Bay of Plenty Cricket and were organised into a team by JPC teacher Mark Chapman.

On Saturday, they lost by 69 runs to an all-boy team the Rotorua Jedis, but good luck wiping the smiles off their faces.

The girls' game day coach Crispian Stewart said they were excited to finally get on the pitch and play a proper game.

While there was no regular girls' competition, he said the team would look to play games where they could throughout summer. The ultimate goal was for Rotorua to have a women's team and the connection with the schools to provide a pathway for young players.

The Maidens bowled first and the Jedis got off to a good start before Jessica Lamb took a wicket in her first over, a well taken catch by wicket keeper Sadie Stewart.

"Morgan [MacCormick], Maisie [Martin] and Haylea [MacCormick] looked to have plenty of bowling promise and were rewarded with a wicket each. Maddie picked up two wickets near the end while Sadie was our most economical bowler with four overs for just seven runs. Emma looked very likely as a wicket keeper too," Stewart said.

At the Maidens turn to bat, Emma Hickson and Maddie King showed solid technique at the top of the order. Allie Clarke and Sadie were solid in defence as wickets started to tumble with both retiring after facing 30 balls.

"But the pick of the batswomen was Freya. She mixed defence with aggression and top scored with 17 which included two boundaries. Maisie finished off a good all round performance with some good running at the end to compliment her good bowling performance."

JPC Maidens Performance
Bowling (Rotorua Jedis 166)
Allie Clarke: 3 overs, 20 runs, 1 wicket.
Maddie King: 3 overs, 21 runs, 2 wickets.
Jessica Lamb: 3 overs, 11 runs, 1 wicket.
Freya Lord: 4 overs, 10 runs, 1 wicket.
Morgan MacCormick: 3 overs, 24 runs, 1 wicket.
Maisie Martin: 3 overs, 13 runs, 1 wicket.
Haylea MacCormick: 3 overs, 14 runs, 1 wicket.

Batting (JPC Maidens 97)
Freya Lord 17
Allie Clarke 11 not out (retired)
Sadie Stewart 10 not out (retired)