South Launceston captain Ava Curtis has joined a rare club to have hit a century in Cricket North women's.
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The competition, which has been going for about a decade, has only seen tons from the likes of South's Belinda Wegman (two), Westbury's Stacey Norton-Smith and former Launceston player Ianthe Boden.
Curtis opened the batting and smashed 106 from 62 balls in the Knights' convincing win against a formidable Riverside outfit at NTCA no. 2 on Saturday.
![South Launceston coach Belinda Wegman shares a laugh with captain Ava Curtis who made a century against Riverside on Saturday. Pictures by Paul Scambler South Launceston coach Belinda Wegman shares a laugh with captain Ava Curtis who made a century against Riverside on Saturday. Pictures by Paul Scambler](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/brian.allen/15d4a488-3371-475f-9366-68818390a007.jpg/r1152_251_3131_2136_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The 17-year-old, who had her parents and one of her sisters in the crowd, was met with a big cheer when she rose her bat for the milestone.
The Launceston Grammar student also received applause as she left the field following her knock which featured 11 fours and one six.
Curtis said it was a thrill to hit her maiden century after getting close last season with a 95 in the Hurricanes Cup.
"I was just targeting their bad bowls, blocking out the good ones," she said.
"I was lucky a few times (to get dropped in the field).
"I was just taking every opportunity when they bowled a bad ball."
The emerging talent said she had to manage her nerves while in the 90s.
"I'm a bit of a nervous person, I saw them filming so I knew I had to block it out or get a one or something," Curtis said.
"I'm a bit like that, I talk myself into a few things but it was good to get a hundred."
The young gun said it would take a little while to sink in but it was pretty cool she had become one of a few players to reach the milestone.
The teenager really got going in the second half of her innings.
![South Launceston's Ava Curtis and Belinda Wegman walk off the field together. South Launceston's Ava Curtis and Belinda Wegman walk off the field together.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/brian.allen/13a19976-3cdf-4ea2-8634-314ca014abb9.jpg/r635_312_4457_3080_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
She said she took about 40 balls to reach her half-century.
"The ground was quite slow, the grass was quite long and wet so to start with it was actually quite hard to score," she said.
Curtis batted most of her innings with fellow opener Amy Duggan who made 31 from 42 balls.
"Dugs and I were just rotating the strike, getting each other on strike, we often open the batting together," she said.
Also a Greater Northern Raiders player in the Cricket Tasmania Premier League, Curtis has her sights set on higher honours.
"Hopefully (I can have) a few more good performances in the Raiders," she said.
"There is (Tassie Tigers) second XI coming up in a few weeks so hopefully I'm pushing to get picked in that squad which would be ideal."
The Knights made 2-163 before restricting the Blues to 7-70 from 20 overs.
Apart from Curtis' knock, South's slick fielding stood out.
"We pride ourselves on our fielding," Curtis said.
"One night a week at training is a fielding night so we work hard on that."
Riverside made a promising start to the chase through coach Sophie Parkin, Elsye Page and Meg Radford.
Parkin said her team would take lessons from a good contest.
"Ava batted really well but we did give a couple of chances so if we take the chances it changes the game," she said.
"She made the most of those chances.
"We didn't have many extras, that was a big tick for us.
"Probably the areas we bowled were a bit staggered in the last eight overs so it's just working on bowling at the stumps and knowing good areas."
She said the Knights bowled well in partnerships which put pressure on her batters.
South remain undefeated while it was the Blues' first loss of the season.
Meanwhile, Launceston defeated Westbury at NTCA no. 2. The Lions shared the wickets as they kept the Shamrocks to 8-50.
Westbury bowler Paige Gibson was on fire early dismissing Tamzin Arnold and Emma Elliott for ducks.
Recruit Izzie McRobbie hit 28 from 21 balls, including four boundaries.