Aussie stars stop the Tigers in their tracks
Teen sensation’s key goal seals Eagles’ win
A MAMMOTH partnership by Australian players Ellyse Perry and Elyse Villani burst Tasmania’s golden run of form in the WNCL as Victoria turned a shaky start into a comfortable victory at Blundstone Arena yesterday.
Villani’s unbeaten century was a knife in the heart of the previously unbeaten Tigers, who posted a solid 9-255 and took the first Victorian scalps, including national star Meg Lanning for a duck, with 35 runs on the board.
Enter another Aussie favourite, Perry, who set about breaking Tassie hearts with her partner in crime, Villani.
The pair put on 161 runs for the third wicket to erase the bulk of Tasmania’s
lead before left-arm orthodox Sam Bates had Perry caught by Meg Phillips for 69 off 88 deliveries.
Villani continued to pile on the pain as she compiled 133 off 123 balls, including 18 fours and a six.
Victoria’s reply of 5-256 came off 48.1 overs.
Irish-born all-rounder Garth was also unbeaten on 16.
“I feel like I’ve got 50-over cricket figured out at the moment. It has taken a bloody long time,” Villani said.
“On a really nice wicket like that, knowing what you needed to chase really helped.
“I think about 280 was par for that wicket so our bowlers did really well to keep Tassie below that.
“It was still a really good score, and losing wickets can change
Kim
things really quickly, so partnerships are important chasing a total like that and we were lucky to have those partnerships.”
Tasmanian opener Rachel Priest, who lost her wicket on the second ball without scoring, said the team took its first loss on the chin.
“We’ve had a good season so far and we came up against a real quality side,” she said.
“We were happy with 255 but we didn’t have a great start with me getting out second ball.
“We felt like we were always in the game. A couple of wickets can change things. We are looking forward to our next game and concentrating on winning that.”
Tasmania’s next game is against Queensland at Blundstone on Sunday.
COMETH the hour, cometh Mikayla Bowen.
In just her 10th game and second season of AFLW football, the 19-year-old nearly singlehandedly dragged West Coast to a 5.4 (34) to 4.9 (33) win over Gold Coast at Mineral Resources Park in Perth.
With just two points separating the two winless sides at the final break, Bowen, in an emphatic best-on-ground performance, spun out of trouble to deliver the killer blow.
Her crucial goal was the icing on top of her 21 disposals, seven marks and three clearances.
The one-point win marks West Coast’s first since Round 4 of the 2020 season, and the first under first-year coach Daniel Pratt.
And West Coast had to do it the hard way, losing star defender Tayla Bresland to a suspected hamstring injury late in the first quarter.
The game threatened take a dramatic turn in to the dying stages when Gold Coast All-Australian Kalinda Howarth made it a two-point margin from the goal line.
A runner infringement by West Coast runner Jacob Brennan then gifted the Suns the ball just beyond 50m in a final twist. But Gold Coast will rue their inaccuracy, finishing with nine behinds and 13 scoring shots to West Coast’s nine shots on goal.
Co-captain Hannah Dunn summed up her Gold Coast’s day when the game was on the line in the third quarter, kicking straight into the man on the mark from 15m out.
But West Coast’s accuracy from limited opportunities proved the difference.
At halftime, the Eagles had four scoring shots, three of which were goals, from four inside 50s while the Suns could only manage 11 points from 22 inside 50s.
Bowen, captain Emma Swanson (22 touches, six tackles) and Maddy Collier (22 touches, four tackles) were the difference in the midfield.