The Northern Territory Under-16 Girls were today outclassed by Queensland and New South Wales Country in their two T20s at the National Cricket Championships.
The NT's first foray into the U16 Girls National Championships in Ballarat had seen them lose narrowly to Tasmania and the ACT and perform admirably against the mainland states WA and Vic Country.
Today’s afternoon T20 match against Queensland match was a bridge too far for the NT, with the leg-spin of Peyton Meredith weaving a web around the Territory's batters.
Chasing 171 to beat their east coast neighbours the NT could only muster 32, with Trisha Bajaj's 10 runs at No.3 in the batting order the only score in double figures.
Meredith finished with the impressive figures of 5-5 from her four overs, with the demanding two-game per day T20 format finally taking its toll on the Territory players after they lost a tough morning contest against NSW Country.
In that match, an 82-run opening stand laid the foundations for NSW Country's 5-150 score after 20 overs, with NT leg-spinner Trisha Bajaj continuing her successful carnival with the ball by grabbing 3-20 from her four overs.
Tracy Village’s Joanna Pickett (1/21) chipped in with a wicket, while Naomi McMahon's wicketkeeping continued to impress after she snared two more victims from a caught behind and a smart stumping.
Tracy Village's Ekam Dhillon hit three boundaries in a stylish 26 and skipper Skylah Henwood from Federal Cricket Club in Alice Springs cleared the boundary twice in her 15 runs as the NT finished at 6-101 in the run chase.
The Territory's assistant coach Karl Mayne said the loss to NSW Country had produced several positives in bowling, fielding and batting.
But the spin heavy Queensland bowling attack proved too hard to get away with their accuracy in length and direction.
"We haven't been up against quality spin a lot before, but the girls will learn a lot from that experience and they'll be better for the lessons and exposure they've had," Mayne added.
Game 5 _ NSW Country 5-150 (S Dhatt 37, C Shoemark 34, F Wharton 24, T Bajaj 3-20, J Pickett 1-17) d Northern Territory 6-101 (E Dhillon 26, S Henwood 15, A Dassanayake 14, M Dare 2-11, L Jordan 2-20) by 49 runs.
Game 6 _ Queensland 5-170 (M Easton 46no, M Dinesh 24, E Dhillon 1-18, J Pickett 1-21, S Henwood 1-29) d Northern Territory 32 (T Bajaj 10, P Meredith 5-5) by 138 runs.