Batting Bulow leads with century

IPSWICH-bred run-scoring machine Melissa Bulow capped an outstanding individual season with one of the greatest batting performances in the history of the Katherine Raymont Shield on Sunday.

If finals are where reputations are made and broken, Bulow enhanced hers further – if that was possible for someone who has already won a record three Konica Minolta Fire Player of the Year Awards and represented Australia.

Bulow blasted 146 not out from a team score of 7-195, helping Western Suburbs to victory over Beenleigh/Logan in the women’s First Grade final with just three balls to spare.

Such was her control of the game and ability to farm the strike, the supremely talented right-hander saw her team-mates produce a next highest score of just seven.

It meant there was no question that Bulow was the Gabba Sporting Products Grade Player of the Week. It was Bulow’s highest score and took her aggregate for the season to 1147 runs across the Katherine Raymont Shield and Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) seasons.

Having racked up 481 runs at 60.13 in the WNCL and earned a berth in the provisional 30-woman list for the upcoming Women’s World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, Bulow has also plundered 660 runs at 94.13 in the Raymont Shield.

“Everything went right for me,” Bulow said of her extraordinary innings which included grassed chances on 30 and 75.

Surrounded by a team full of inexperienced teenagers outside of Kirby Short and Danielle Hollis, Bulow dictated terms superbly after a scratchy start.

“I struggled a little bit in the first part of my innings but once I went back to hitting the ball hard and changing my mindset, I was happy with how I played,” she said.

Facing a strong defending champions’ bowling attack featuring Jude Coleman, Delissa Kimmince and Kathryn Jenkin, the Cutters were happy to give Bulow a single and try to take wickets at the other end.

Despite only being a quarter of the way through the innings, Bulow called the batting power play and proceeded to smash the bowling all around Allan Border Field.

The wickets continued to tumble at the other end.

At 6-136, Wests were in trouble until teenager Casey Ryan and tailender Rebecca McCoombes hung around while Bulow did the bulk of the scoring.