THE North West Combined High School girls cricket team has put in a stellar performance at the recent state girls cricket carnival in Raby.
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Several impressive wins saw the North West girls finish in third position, the highest rank in a long period of time.
The victories were made even more impressive with key players missing from the side, including Zoe Fleming through injury and Deni Baker and Claire McGuirk representing NSW Country at the nationals.
Day one saw the side open their campaign with two Tewnty20 games.
The first saw the girls go up against Western, which resulted in a win.
Batting first, North West recorded a competitive total of 6-100 thanks to a top score of 45 from Oxley High School's Lara Graham.
In reply Western could only muster 6-70.
Day one's afternoon game saw North West cause an upset win over the star studded Hunter line up.
Hunter was restricted to just 3-98 thanks to the tight bowling of Graham and Katarina Mcewen (Gulargambone CS, who both claimed 1-9 off four overs.
In reply, Peel High School's Lauren McGill carried her bat through the innings to top score with 38 not out.
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Helping McGill guide the side home with four balls remaining was Narrabri High School's Alyssa Ford who belted a quick-fire 30 from 22 deliveries.
Day two started with another nail biter, with North West going down to Sydney East by just three runs.
Sydney East was restricted to 5-106 thanks in-part to the bowling efforts of Oxley High School's Miriam Barbara (2-9).
However, a determined 64 not out from Ford was not enough to see North West home, finishing the innings at 9-103.
The afternoon of day two saw North West take on a depleted North Coast side, who only had nine players.
Batting first, North Coast posted 6-105, Narrabri High School's Elsie Ford was the best of the North West bowlers claiming 4-14, including a hat trick, only the seventh in carnival history.
In reply McGill (41no) and Alyssa Ford (68no) were untroubled at the top of the order, finishing zero wickets down when passing the total.
This win saw the team move to third position heading into the semi final against Sydney West, who had a formidable line up including Sydney Sixers's star Hayley Silver-Holmes.
Outclassed, North West we’re bowled out for 84 by Sydney West with Margaret Conroy (Armidale HS) and Elsie Ford providing some resistance with 16 and 14 respectively.
Despite the small total, Elsie Ford bowled admirably to claim 3-35.
The loss set up a playoff for third position against Sydney East and a chance for revenge for their earlier three-run loss.
Sydney East were restricted to 6/129 off 40 overs with Isabella Bramley claiming two wickets.
In reply, North West got off to a steady start with Graham (19) and McGill (13) opening the innings.
With the game in the balance, Alyssa Ford again stepped up scoring an unbeaten 52 not out to pass the total six-wickets down and with a little more than two overs remaining.
The impressive performances of Alyssa Ford and Lara Graham throughout the carnival secured them a place in the CHS girls seconds cricket team, with Ford finishing the carnival with a batting average of 110.
