Dalyellup still on the hunt for a win as Eagles continue their dominant run with a perfect start to the season

It was a weekend to forget for Dalyellup’s women’s team as they were overpowered in both of their Bunbury and Districts Cricket Association games on Sunday by table-toppers Bunbury Eagles and Marist. Dalyellup faced Marist in the first game of the day and suffered a defeat as Marist chased down the set total with eight wickets and 29 balls remaining. Dalyellup won the toss and elected to bat but only Tasmyn Verhaaf (37 off 41 balls) and Maddie Oakey (12 off 54 balls) reached double-digits. Matilda Thomas (3-8 in three overs) and Kayleigh Lynch (2-6 in four overs) dominated with the ball for Marist. During the chase, Emily Allen single-handedly carried the chase with an unbeaten 57 runs off 51 balls — hitting eight boundaries in her outing. Dalyellup then came undone for a second time facing Bunbury Eagles later in the day. Eagles’ openers Emma Bresser (54 off 60 balls) and Janie Coertzen (40 off 35 balls) set the tone for the innings with their 70-run partnership before Coertzen was run out by Verhaaf’s fielding heroics. But the flow of runs did not seem to slow for Eagles as the next batter Shani Waugh (18 off 18 balls) piled up a 51-run partnership with Bresser before they both retired out. Dalyellup were tasked with chasing 143 and the only wicket-taker for Dalyellup was Donna McCabe (1-23 in four overs), who bowled Cathy Allen in the second-last ball of the innings. In response, Dalyellup’s openers Donna McCabe (zero in four balls) and Hannah Boyle (five off 14 balls) returned to the dugout quickly as McCabe was run out, and Boyle was trapped leg before wicket by Coertzen. Hannah Berdenkamp (1-15 in four overs), Coertzen (1-5 in three overs) and Meg Thompson(1-3 in four overs) stood out in the Eagles’ bowling attack. The batting order collapsed and Dalyellup were restricted to 8-72 with the Eagles winning by 71 runs, securing the top position on the points table. The Eagles went up against the Eaton Bobtails at 9am on Sunday and chased the target set by Bobtails with nine wickets in hand and 81 balls remaining. Batting first, Kylie Holdsworth was the only batter for Bobtails with double figures — 14 off 43 balls. Chasing the target of 45, opening batter Meg Thomson saw the game through with her unbeaten knock of 39 off 23 balls. As the weekend concluded, Dalyellup remained in the eighth place with no wins and one game with no result.