WARRNAMBOOL export Steph Townsend will take momentum from an unbeaten half-century into her first Victorian Premier Cricket top-grade grand final tomorrow.
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Townsend made 64 not out for Essendon-Maribyrnong Park in its six-wicket semi-final win against Brunswick Park last weekend, guiding it to the Victorian Women’s Cricket Association decider.
Essendon-Maribyrnong Park will meet Box Hill, which will be without Australian representative Meg Lanning, in the one-day grand final at Doncaster tomorrow.
“We are pretty confident,” Townsend said.
“We bat right down to number 11 and we’re a pretty tight-knit group so we have a lot of trust in each other.”
Townsend and Briana Binch built a match-winning 113-run partnership against Brunswick Park.
The important knock was Townsend’s third half-century for the season. Her top score was 75 against Plenty Valley last month.
“It was good to be in the middle to be honest and have a good innings with our captain Briana,” she said.
“She batted at three and I batted at four. We were talking and said we needed to put a big partnership on together.”
Townsend, 21, moved to Melbourne in January for university.
The right-hand batter is studying child services at Swinburne. She wants to study disability work too and hopes to work with children with a disability in sport.
She said being based close to the club and going to twice- weekly training sessions had paid dividends.
“I had an interrupted season this year, not playing many games before Christmas because I wasn’t living here and since I have moved down I have found form with the bat,” Townsend said.
“I do like to attack. I like to put the bowlers under a fair bit of pressure but I have improved heaps on my defensive side of the game.”
Townsend will travel home to Warrnambool to play netball for Old Collegians’ A grade side this season.
