Tasmania take five SA wickets off six balls in ‘unbelievable’ final WNCL over
Sarah Coyte has taken three wickets and conjured a run out in a final over for the ages to help Tasmania clinch back-to-back WNCL titles with a onerun win.
South Australia required four runs from the final six deliveries with five wickets in hand under an adjusted Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena on Saturday night. Enter Coyte, who bowled Annie O’Neil (28 from 20) off ball one before getting South Australia skipper Jemma Barsby (28 from 17) stumped two balls later.
South Australia were still in the box seat, needing three from three deliveries, when Coyte ran out AmandaJade Wellington (one) knocking the ball onto the stumps in her follow through. Coyte, who finished with 4-30 and was named player of the match, then trapped Ella Wilson lbw on the secondto-last ball.
South Australia needed three runs off the final delivery but could manage just one as No 11 Anesu Mushangwe stood dumbfounded out of her ground and was run out to put an exclamation point on Tasmania’s celebrations.. The dramatic last over capped a thrilling final in which both sides navigated rain delays and had their noses in front at different stages under DLS.
“It was really bizarre. I don’t think I’ve ever come off [for rain] that much in one game before,” Coyte said. “Easily the best game I’ve been a part of. The ebbs and flows. You can’t even replicate a game like that.”
Coyte said she was calm at the start of the last over, describing the reflex run out as an accident.
“I actually didn’t mean to hit it on to the stumps. I just wanted to stop it,” she said. “It’s an ongoing joke that I don’t field off my own bowling. It is lucky I even got a touch to it.”
Tasmania are just the second team to secure back-to-back WNCL titles, leaving South Australia runners-up for the second year in a row.
“It’s pretty raw. It was an unbelievable finish. Unfortunately we couldn’t get across the line,” Barsby said. “We need to come back bigger and better next year.”
A red-hot Elyse Villani had earlier spearheaded Tasmania to 264 from their 50 overs with 110 from 126 balls, her third century in her past four innings. Villani also hit an unbeaten 111 in last season’s decider to help her side secure a first WNCL title. She shared a crucial 139-run stand with Naomi Stalenberg (75 off 89) after the pair came together at 3-105 in the 21st over.
The covers came on and off during South Australia’s chase, which was headlined by an impressive 83 from youngster Courtney Webb.
Webb’s departure in the 42nd over left South Australia at 5-185, before Barsby and O’Neil dragged their team back into the game. South Australia were ahead on DLS when the covers went on again with six overs to go.
But play was able to resume, with South Australian needing an adjusted 23 from 18 balls to win. Tasmania fell over late in their innings, with Villani’s departure sparking a collapse of 7-20 as they were bowled out off exactly 50 overs.