Rivals bowled over by Shropshire starlets

The under-17s, 15s, 13s and 11s all tasted victory to back up the win by Shropshire's Women's XI in their trip to Cornwall.

The under-17s led the way with two impressive performances in the ECB County Championship T20 Group Two.

Shropshire claimed victories over Leicestershire & Rutland and Worcestershire to get their campaign off to a winning start.

In the first game against the Pears, Courtney Cooper used her knowledge of conditions at host club Ludlow to claim 3-25, as the visitors posted 118-4 off their 20 overs.

Cooper then opened the batting and smashed a half-century off 43 balls, including five boundaries and a six, to help her side to their target in the 17th over.

She was ably assisted by Katie Green who plundered six boundaries in her 36 to help seal the victory. Shropshire dominated their second clash of the day against Leicestershire & Rutland.

Skipper Lara Jones won the toss and chose to bat and despite losing two early wickets, the home side rattled along to post an imposing 161-2 from their 20 overs.

That total featured a fine unbeaten partnership of 135 between Katie Green (57) and Milly Home (55).

The visitors were soon in trouble in their reply and were finally bowled out for 56 in the 16th over.

Green and Zoe Griffiths both claimed two wickets and there was a wicket apiece for Ashleigh Heath, Molly Batkin, Abbie Jones and Holly Fozzard.

The victories leave Shropshire joint top of the table with Warwickshire after the opening round of games.

The under-15s also claimed two wins in their opening games in their ECB County Championship T20 competition at Barnt Green.

Skipper Home led by example in the opening game against Herefordshire with an unbeaten 77 in her side's 118-7.

Her runs came off 63 balls with the final 27 coming off just 13 balls as she accelerated the scoring rate.

In reply, Herefordshire fell 50 runs short with 13-year-old Molly Batkin claiming two wickets.

In the second game against Worcestershire, a strong bowling and fielding performance saw Shropshire restrict the Pears to just 56-7 .

There were two wickets each for Home and Georgina Hartley, and one for Batkin with two run outs.

Shropshire eased to their victory target for the loss of five wickets with double-figure contributions from Hartley and Amelie Davies.

Again, the results mean that Shropshire sit top of the table after the first round of games.

The under-13 girls got off to a flying start in their ECB League campaign with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Derbyshire at Pontesbury.

Skipper Batkin (Whitchurch) set the example after winning the toss and asking the visitors to bat first.

She produced a devastating spell of bowling to claim 3-14 from six overs to put Derbyshire on the back foot.

Worfield's Harriet Rollason bowled tightly in the middle overs to claim 2-11 from her seven overs to prevent the visitors from gaining a foothold in the game.

The rest of Shropshire's attack bowled with good discipline and were aided by a decent all-round fielding display.

Megan Trickett and Keely Jones also picked up a wicket each as Derbyshire finished on 91-7 after 35 overs.

Shropshire cantered to their target within 22 overs. Opener Rollason played a controlled innings finishing unbeaten on 16 and Eleanor Yeats ended the game with a positive unbeaten 20.

A new-look under-11 team also enjoyed victory in their opening game of the season against Herefordshire at Colwall.

With five debutants in the side, skipper Alice Reade led the way with the bat.

She hit 33, and with Amy Griffiths hitting 15 and Ella Thomas 12, Shropshire finished on 125-3 from their 25 overs, helped by a large extras total.

An excellent all-round bowling display saw the hosts restricted to 71-9 to give Shropshire victory by 54 runs. There were two wickets apiece for Kate Brazier, Antonia Barton and Erin Sturrock.

Cricket Shropshire development officer Ian Gregory was delighted with the clean sweep.

He said: "What a wonderful week of cricket for all our girls' sides in the county. Congratulations to all on their performances."