Hedland shine and Pilbara show grit at Women’s Country Week

Two Pilbara sides tested their mettle against the State’s top country sides in the inaugural women’s country week competition.

The five-round 20-over contest took place in Geraldton last month and saw both Port Hedland and the West Pilbara cricket associations send sides down to compete.

The tournament included eight teams from Geraldton, Bunbury, Peel and a combined Great Southern and Goldfields go head to head.

Port Hedland got off to a flying start in the competition, dismantling the Peel team to win their opening match by 30 runs.

The win kickstarted a great run by Port Hedland, who finished the tournament in second place, behind powerhouse Geraldton.

Hedland won three of their five games, only losing to the two Geraldton sides.

Batting superstar Rebecca Tarvo was one of the top scorers of the competition, blasting the third-highest score of the tournament — a 61-run masterclass that powered her side home over Bunbury. She also finished third for the total runs scored, hitting an impressive 128 runs from her five innings with an average of 32 and a strike rate of 154.2.

Bree Wilson was the pick of the Port Hedland bowlers, taking nine scalps at an average of 9.78.

Meanwhile, the West Pilbara Association struggled in the competition but fought back bravely to finish tied on points in equal fifth.

The Karratha-based side finished with one win from their five games, but showed plenty of fight.

They smashed Geraldton B in the second round to score their only win of country week in resounding fashion but went on to lose to cross-region rivals in the following round.

West Pilbara then fell short against Southern Skies and tournament winners Geraldton A in their final two matches.

Jessica Creighton was the top batter for West Pilbara, scoring 92 runs at an average of 23, followed by Ashleigh Faneco with 68 runs at 17.

Faneco also took eight wickets at an average of 4.75, while Jessica Pitchers bagged six wickets during the tournament.