Germany has won the Ladies invitation tournament final against Hungary, with Belgium coming third and a Dutch X1 fourth.
Despite ever-threatening dark clouds, the rain held off as the ladies transferred from Meise, where the round-robin was played, to Ghent for the finals.
The final match, on Sunday morning, will see the sides mixed into combined selections for a fun match followed by a barbecue at Mechelen CC in Hombeek.
Belgium v Dutch – Belgium winners
The play-off for 3rd place saw a rather tired five some from the Utrecht-based club Kampong, aided by a few Germans and one Belgian, take on teh Belgians, whom they had beaten quite decisively two days earlier. The much improved home team was sent in to bat and got off to a great start with a 39- run partnership for the first wicket. Sue Moore and daughter Dani Moore combined hard hitting and deft punches past the fielders to achieve this. Sue got out to Suus van der Harten, who tempted her to hit a catch to Ingrid van der Elst at midwicket. Dani was then joined by Poppy McGeown, these two occupied the crease right until the last ball, taking Belgium to a score of 105, both scoring 17 not out. The Dutch could not get going with the bat. At 63/4 the game was over and done with. Frani Moore accounted for the first wicket with a caught and bowled, finishing with 1-13 off 4. Poppy McGeown followed up her good form with the bat taking 1-11 off 4, Jennifer van Assche took 1-16 in 3. The biggest gain was in the extra’s, Belgium bowling only 11 wides and 2 no-balls, (bowling extra’s each cost two runs and weren’t bowled again, only in the last over) a huge improvement in only 3 days of cricket.
3rd / 4th play-off – Belgium: 105/1. S. Moore 18, P. McGeown 17 not out, D. Moore 17 not out
S. van der Harten 1-18/4
Dutch: 78/4. I. Van der Elst 21, S. Van de Harten 13 not out, P. McGeown 1-11/4, F. Moore 1-14/4, J. van Assche 1-18/3
Germany v Hungary – Germany winners
The honours in the International Ladies Twenty20 Tournament in Belgium 2011 went to the German team, who defeated Hungary in the final.
A well prepared and organised Germany, coached by Hans-Heinrich Mai, strung together 4 wins in a row to remain undefeated. The basis of their victories was their bowling, nice and straight, backed up by sound fielding.
In that last match Germany decided to bat after having won the toss. Undoubtedly they wanted to put the pressure on the Hungarians by putting up a good score. That did not really eventuate, as the batting was good but slow. The long grass and slightly wet surface were the reason hardly any boundaries were scored. Opener Monika Loveday hit a fine 23, but eventually was bowled by Brigi Hotea in the 18th over. Maura Brauser struck a quick 20 not out, taking Germany to a hard to defend total of 85. The Hungarian batting suffered an early blow, but rebuilt the inning well. On 34/2 after 6 overs they looked well on their way to a winning score but a huge middle-order collapse saw them tumble to 63/7. The Germans smelled victory and romped home to win by a margin of 12 runs. Keeper Monika Loveday had a catch and a stumping.
Final: Germany 85/4: M. Loveday 23, M. Brauser 20 Not out, C. Fodor 2-17/4, 3 catches
Hungary: 73 all out in 19 overs, V. Cox 9, B. Hotea 8, C. Baloch 7, S. Frohnmayer 4-11/4, T. Harrainer
2-23/4
Many thanks to Sue Moore and Ingrid van der Elst for the match reports.
