Women’s country week: Bunbury Red qualify for A-grade grand final following two Sunday victories

Bunbury Red qualified for the A-grade grand final of the CCB women’s country week carnival on Sunday, after going through the round-robin stage undefeated.

Their opponent in Monday afternoon’s decider at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar were Geraldton’s 1st XI, who dropped only one game — to Bunbury Red — throughout the carnival.

A-grade

Bunbury Red were dealt no favours with carnival fixturing on the final day of round-robin matches.

Pencilled in to play Geraldton’s 1st XI at 9am in Busselton (Barnard Park), the players had barely time to draw breath following their upset 21-run win — as they were then required to then drive out to Donnybrook’s Egan Park to fulfil their semifinal commitment against the Southern Scorpions.

Thankfully for the tournament co-hosts, all of the driving paid off, as they recorded wins over Geraldton and Southern Scorpions respectively.

Tipped to be a preview to the A-grade carnival, quality early bowling from Lisa Smith (2-10 off four overs) and Stephanie Jolly (2-4 off two overs), who are also club teammates at Donnybrook, ensured that Red’s total of 7-99 under gloomy skies was able to be successfully defended.

On Monday at Egan Park, the Scorpions won by two wickets in the 3rd place playoff against Bunbury Blue, after being set 71 for victory.

B-grade

Geraldton’s 2nd XI squad were able to celebrate one of the best individual efforts of the carnival on Sunday, as Kylie Bremner destroyed Bunbury Blue at Forrest Park East.

After helping set 177 for Blue to run down, Bremner (who took a staggering 6-8 off four overs) entered the fray in the second over, snaring her first scalp in only four balls.

With this burst leaving the home side in a dishevelled mess, Bunbury Blue were rolled for 60 off 16.4 overs.

West Pilbara once again wielded the willow stylishly, piling on 1-232 against Peel Maroon, with Kiara Ganzer smashing an unbeaten century off only 74 balls.

Unsurprisingly, this knocked helped the North West side, who comprehensively dismantled Maroon by 198 runs.