Takapuna Normal win through to national finals

Thursday, 10 November 2011

There are 12 very excited girls at Takapuna Normal Intermediate School this week after they won their regional playoff game against Peachgrove from Northern Districts to book themselves a place in the national finals at the end of the month.

They did it the hard way as well after only posting 84 in their innings, and having to put together a superb bowling and fielding effort to dismiss their opposition for just 58.

Coach John Drought says that the team has got used to the winning habit and are really enjoying their cricket.

“They’re a really nice group of girls. We’ve got some real talent there with a couple of the girls in the Auckland U13 side and they’re all really motivated. They’ve been out practicing till 5pm a few times a week under their own steam which is great.”

One of those two Auckland reps, Sydney Bultitude, was instrumental in the final, grabbing three wickets to help Takapuna bundle out Peachgrove for 58.

Drought says that the girls have really taken ownership of their preparation.

“I gave complete control to our captain, Claire McKavanagh, to run the game and make decisions, as well as things at practice, and they’ve been great with that.”

The team had enthusiastic support from a large group of parents who made the short trip down to Hamilton to cheer the girls on, but with a trip to the national finals on November 29-30 in Palmerston North a bit of a tougher ask the girls will have to continue their winning run without much of that encouragement.

Drought believes that support has been important for the team’s success.

“We had about six or seven carloads of parents down there who gave us a lot of encouragement and more importantly the management of the school have got right behind us as well and been extremely supportive.”  

It’s been a hectic week for the team as they won the Auckland final for the first time and then within seven days managed to topple the Northern Districts champions as well. In between times they also had a visit from Hearts player Roz McNeil, who came to assembly to present the Auckland trophy.

They’ve now got a couple of weeks preparation time before the national finals at the end of the month where they’ll take on the best Intermediate sides in the country to find a national champion.