AN 83 run partnership between Wellington's Amali McNeill and Blayney's Dimity Parton paved the way for Western's win over Sydney East in Wednesday's NSW CHS Girls Cricket Championship meeting at Bathurst.
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Western produced one of their finest performances of the week to take a 45-run victory in their first 50 over match of the tournament.
McNeil was in fine form with the bat, notching up six fours and a six on her way to 61 runs, while Parton (33) and Parkes' Maddy Spence (31) played excellent knocks in Western's total of 203 all out.
Sydney East had a middle order surge of their own, led by Ananaya Sharma (33) and Laura Metry (29 not out), but the run rate began to climb as Western kept the boundaries to a minimum.
Catherine Wilson's (20) wicket would spell the beginning of the end for the visitors at 5-128.
At that stage it was only the 33rd over of the game, and Sydney East still had plenty of time up their sleeves, but Western was giving up little wiggle room with the ball.
Sydney East finished all out for 158 in the 43rd over after losing their last four wickets in four overs.
Blayney's Taylor Hobby finished with Western's leading figures of 3-28.
The last of those Hobby wickets was a stunning diving catch to win the game from Parkes' Marites Woods.
Spence took 2-28 while Bathurst's Chloe Stapleton, Parkes' Abi Simpson and McNeil all finished with wickets.
"I thought we'd be around 180 at one stage before that partnership between Amali and Dimity. They chipped away at it and they were able to play more of their shots once they were able to settle in," she said.
"That setup gave the girls confidence to defend the score. That's been a big improvement this year. They've had the confidence to go out there and set a score. We haven't had big scores like that for many years."
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McCann said the fielding effort was another strong point out of Wednesday's game.
"Breaking up big partnerships can be hard when they get settled so I told the girls to keep up the pressure in the field, and they were able to cut off a lot of fours and that kept the pressure on," she said.
It's the third win of the tournament for Western after they finished the Twenty20 phase of the competition with two victories and two losses.
Western concluded the competition in Thursday's second 50 over game.
Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
