Women’s country week: Geraldton 1st XI’s fightback against Bunbury Blue a highlight on day one

The Geraldton 1st XI were given an almighty fright on Saturday during the opening day of action at the CCB women’s country week cricket championships.

Held at venues throughout the South West, the Mid West outfit entered the carnival as red-hot favourites, but did not get everything their own way.

A-grade

Shockwaves filtered around Hay Park early on Saturday morning, after Geraldton’s 1st XI slumped to 4-2 inside four overs, due to exceptional bowling from Bunbury Blue teenagers Ava Dodds (2-12 off four overs) and Molly Lincoln (2-10 off four overs).

Needing a spark to get back on track, State under-19 all-rounder Meg Spalding — the only regional player selected in last year’s squad — put on a handy 50-run partnership with Abby Green, which helped get the Mid West side out of trouble.

Chasing 116 for victory, Bunbury Blue fell 16 runs short, primarily because of tight bowling from Geraldton’s Ashlyn Thompson.

Despite the loss, a big positive for the home side was the batting displays of Madi King and Shani Waugh, who both timed the ball beautifully throughout their respective knocks.

Both Bunbury Red and Geraldton finished unbeaten on day one, which set up a tantalising match-up on Sunday morning at Busselton’s Barnard Park.

B-grade

The talking point of day one was easily West Pilbara’s massive 141-run victory over Bunbury Blue at the Bunbury Recreation Ground.

Racking up 43 runs inside their first four overs, the visitors amassed 4-241 off their allocated 20-over stint — with Kassie Patterson (81 off 55 balls) and Jessica Creighton (68 off 42 balls) belting 21 boundaries between them during the offensive onslaught.

Bunbury Blue did little to help themselves either, giving up 51 runs courtesy of extras.

Heading into the second day of action, it appeared to be a two-horse race for carnival honours between Geraldton’s 2nd XI and West Pilbara.