A destructive run from Australian all-rounder star Nicola Carey ultimately doomed a gritty Greater Northern Raiders side at UTAS Stadium on Sunday.
The home side got off to an optimistic start against a talent-heavy North Hobart, with Riverside's Sophie Parkin (4-36) taking the wicket of Aussie all-rounder, opener Naomi Stalenberg (9) early on in the innings.
It would then be Carey's ball-game as she batted for 138 runs off 112 balls including an insane 17 fours.
Raiders coach Darren Simmonds said going up against the highest echelon of cricketing skill in Carey would always be hard goings.
"Nicola took the game away from us with her innings, but then we held our nerve and stayed in the game," he said.
Despite Carey's crusade, Simmonds was pleased with the bowling attack overall, with four bowlers claiming at least one wicket and the Demons' next highest run-scorer in Chloe Abel only able to tally 38.
"I thought we bowled okay particularly early led by Sophie, Meg [Radford,1-33] started off well," Simmonds said.
"We were able to get into the game early with some early wickets and get some pressure on North Hobart.
"When someone makes 138, we didn't make too bad an effort."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
The Raiders' batting order tried to gain traction in their innings, however Stalenberg (5-30) had her revenge in dismissing four batters including Emma Manix-Geeves (5) early on.
"We weren't able to get one 50-plus partnership, and if you're going chase that kind of score you're going to need a couple of your top-order players to get high scores," Simmonds said.
Montana Bradley [58] showed promise in her return after a break to hit a half century.
While a tough loss after the break, Simmonds said the young side was able to learn much from their highly experienced adversaries.
"Our players got a front-row seat on Sunday and hopefully they can take something out of that and put it into their game and make them better going forward," he said.
"We've got some young batters who were able to observe how Nicola [Carey] went about her innings.
"She kept the ball on the ground, didn't hit it in the air often and I think that's something for our players to learn going forward."
Results:
North Hobart 9-265 (Carey 138, Abel 38, Parkin 4-36, Curtis 2-59) def Greater Northern 7-170 (Bradley 58, Moloney 47, Stalenberg 5-30, Marsh 2-21) by 95 runs.
Harry Murtough
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
Born and raised in Launceston. BA of journalism from Monash University. Sports reporter covering basketball, netball and cricket.
