Rangi Ruru Beats Champions to Secure Spot in Finals

Christchurch’s Rangi Ruru is the only Christchurch girls’ team heading to the national finals of the NZCT Secondary School Girls’ Cricket Cup in Palmerston North next week.

The Rangi team, coached by White Ferns and Canterbury Magicians cricketer, Frances Mackay and led by Year 13 student, Kirsty Nation (who has recently been named in Canterbury Magicians) beat the 2010 and 2011 national champions Christchurch Girls’ High School, in the qualifying tournament earlier this year to secure one of the six final spots.

This is the first time that Rangi Ruru has made the final which will see the teams compete in a round robin of Twenty20 matches over three days, from 9-12 December.

Captain Kirsty Nation says having a sportsperson of Frances Mackay’s calibre involved, has been invaluable.

“It was superb to have Frankie’s help leading into the competition and certainly helped build upon the skills the girls all have, with many of us already involved in club and representative cricaket,” she says.

The other schools competing for the national title are St Kentigern College, Auckland; Waikato Diocesan, Hamilton; Havelock North High School, Havelock North; Wellington Girls College, Wellington and St Hilda’s Collegiate, Dunedin.

The team is: Kirsty Nation (Captain), Kate Willis, Alice Rountree, Livvy Thomson, Sarah Donald, Kate Donald, Emma Palmer, Kristy Havill, Phoebe Spiers, Sophie Purdie, Penny Mander and Anna Robertson.

ENDS

www.rangiruru.school.nz

 
Further Information  Info on the National Secondary School Girl’s Competition:

The National Secondary School Girl’s competition was started in 1994 and is sponsored by the New Zealand Community Trust. The competition has provided an opportunity for every girls’ or co-educational secondary school in New Zealand to participate in a limited overs knockout cricket competition.  The preliminary rounds in each of the competitions are played within their major cricket associations on a knockout basis.
History

http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/content/women/grassroots/nzct-secoundary-scho/nztc-secondary-school-girls-history.aspx