Mr Henry arrived early to meet our visitors and wish us well for the match. After a brief opening ceremony where gifts were exchanged and team photographs were taken, Takapuna’s captain, Olivia, won the toss and elected to bat. Takapuna started off strongly, with their openers Dorothea and Izzy scoring a 20-run partnership. Charlie broke the partnership taking a great wicket with the assistance of Lucinda’s catch in short cover. The Takapuna players batted exceptionally well with Izzy scoring 93 not out and Raiha scoring 60 not out, concluding their innings with an impressive 1/183.

With the pressure on, our Moreton Bay batters had a mountain to climb, however, openers Lucinda and Astrid settled in quickly and began scoring runs at a steady rate. Astrid blasted sixes and fours to all parts of the ground in a near-flawless batting display. Lucinda played the perfect partner, turning the strike over regularly in order to keep the runs flowing. At the end of the twenty overs, Lucinda had scored a chanceless 32 not out and Astrid remained unbeaten on 132. At the end of the innings the Moreton Bay girls fell agonisingly short of victory, 3 runs short of their target. The game was played in an excellent spirit with everyone involved commenting on what a fantastic day it was.

At the end of the game the teams had lunch together and learnt a lot about each other, and their respective countries. The Moreton Bay girls were very glad of this experience and can’t wait for a possible return tour to New Zealand in the future. The Takapuna players were grateful for the opportunity to pay against us and said that MBC were the best hosts and opposition they had experienced on their tour by far.

A big thanks must go to everyone involved in the day, in particular the ground staff, catering staff, Mr Stocks, Mrs Stribling, Mrs Pavish, Miss Thompson, and Mr Rowe for all their organisation, and the parents and friends who came to support us.

Astrid Muniandy & Mr Steven Rowe