Therese Viljoen was among the star performers during the most recent selection of Cambridgeshire Youth Cricketers’ fixtures at the weekend.
Viljoen chalked up figures of 5-10 from just 3.1 overs to help Cambridgeshire Under-13 Girls get the better of Bedfordshire by an 18-run margin.
Prior to those heroics, a strong batting partnership from Diya Menon (31) and Alice Ayliffe (47) had left Cambridgeshire 74-1 at the halfway point of their 30-over innings.
Bedfordshire fought back by taking four wickets for the cost of just 20 runs, but Cambridgeshire were still able to set a total that proved to be beyond their opposition.
Alongside Viljoen, fellow bowlers Aggy Ferrandino (1-6) and Isabella John (1-13) also caught the eye.
Elsewhere, Cambridgeshire Under-15 Boys secured a 10-wicket win from their 50-over clash against local rivals Suffolk.
Bowling first, Cambridgeshire shared the wickets around as they skittled out their hosts for 117 runs in 30 overs.
And that was followed by an opening-wicket partnership of captain James Mitchell (62 not out) and Lucas Mudkavi (48 not out) that wrapped up the victory in 25 overs.
Cambridgeshire Under-12 Boys were also in action against their Suffolk counterparts, but in two Twenty20 encounters the spoils went the way of the opposition.
Cambridgeshire bowled first in the opening match and while Suffolk started well, two wickets apiece for Dhrona Irinjalakudakkaran and Samit Salaunkey – along with two run-outs in a sound fielding display – helped to limit Suffolk to a score of 103.
Ivo Prichard-Jones got Cambridgeshire off to a flier in reply with 14 off the first over of the chase, but the momentum stalled and the total proved too much as the final wicket eventually fell on 81 runs.
Cambridgeshire batted first in the second fixture and while they saw out the full 20 overs, a score of 87-8 proved to be routine for Suffolk to chase down – despite Pritchard-Jones’ two wickets in as many overs.
Cambridgeshire Under-11 Girls also suffered a double defeat as they went down against Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Hills Road in Cambridge.
Captain Molly Ketteley and Orla Coen jointly top scored for Cambridgeshire with nine runs apiece during an innings that finished on 56-8 – a total that Northamptonshire reached for the loss of just one wicket.
In the second contest Grace Francis (2-14) and Navya Kersarla (1-18) impressed with the ball as the Steelbacks set Cambridgeshire a target of 101 runs for victory.
Opener Amity Hoyle top scored in the reply with 11 runs, but Cambridgeshire could only muster a total of 58 from their 15 overs.
