By Helen Maynard-Casely

One of the interesting things to note about the WNCL as a competition, is the pairing of matches with the same opponents facing each other twice during a round, with only one day in between. The second rubber of each match-up can be an interesting study of who has taken on the lessons from the first game, studied the opponent and found the chink of armour to exploit in the second. After a close first game on Thursday, it was the battle of the analysts during the rest day to find what to target when Saturday rolled around.

A stonker of a day greeted the players – Sydney’s weather had cleared, the pitch bathed in bright sunshine. Was this also going to bring about a change? NSW won the toss, and decided to keep with the plan that had (narrowly) won the first game – putting out an unchanged side. WA swapped Shay Manolini for Charis Bekker, a right-hand bat but left-hand spin allrounder into their side.

NSW openers Katie Mack and Tahlia Wilson put on a show for the few spectators (was everyone else at the beach?) putting on 157 runs before Wilson fell for 60 to an excellent diving forward catch from Bhavisha Devchand of Bekker’s bowling. This proved an excellent backbone to the NSW batting total, and gave the rest of the batters freedom to play at run-a-ball with the knowledge that there were ample wickets yet to come. So though wickets fell (notably Mack for 96 lbw by Peschel) the runs kept going up, with the majority of the batters contributing well. By 50 overs NSW had 301 runs on the board – just passing their total of 298 from Thursday’s game.

The eight wickets taken had included 2 from Amy Edgar, who had also put the most pressure on NSW, bowling 30 dot balls in her 10 overs. It would seem that though WA had found a way to take wickets they hadn’t taken them quickly enough, was NSW going to take advantage of this?

The short answer: yes they were! NSW proceeded to execute a masterclass in working out the WA batters’ weak spots. Lauren Cheatle’s captaincy and bowling were en point, not only taking early wickets and being on a hat trick in the 6th over, but also setting attacking fields with a tailored gameplan for each weary WA batter as they came to the crease, and soon marched back. This was especially the case when Sam Bates came on to bowl – she proceeded to work her way steadily taking the wickets of WA’s middle order – disrupting partnerships in turn with her four wickets in her 10 over spell, only conceding 26 runs. WA opening batter Maddy Darke fought valiantly, but had to watch from the other end as each of her batting partners were dismissed, she finished not out on 75, with WA reaching 158 all up.

NSW will be happy with the big win, which also landed them a bonus point in the chase for top of the table. Bates was awarded player of the match, and NSW breakers march forward undefeated into the big break before they next appear in round 4 of the WNCL. They are looking hard to beat.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

By Helen Maynard-Casely

A bleary cloudy day greeted spectators at Cricket Central, probably matching the weary badgers who had watched Australia’s wobble and recover against Pakistan late the night before. But this game was game much brighter than the dull clouds skirting the sky: NSW won the toss, elected to bat, and so started a proper WNCL classic.

The NSW team was unchanged from the side that won twice against Victoria in round one, while WA made one change from their travails against Queensland. This was due to Heather Graham’s call-up to the national side, meaning Rebecca McGrath gained her first WA cap.

WA started well, pinning down openers Mack and Wilson with the new ball, the culmination of which was an easy catch by Hinkley at mid-on of Wilson off Peschels’s bowling. This brought Anika Learoyd to the middle, who with Mack set in to build a sizable partnership. Overs of worker-like rotation of the strike kept the scoreboard ticking over, and by drinks after the 17^th over, the WA bowlers didn’t quite know what to do.

Spinner Manolini came on, but Mack and Learoyd continued to match each other both in runs scored and balls faced – bringing up their fifties in overs 23 and 24 respectively. Following a mini-drinks break after the 25^th over it was clear the batters wanted to move things on, with both Mack and Learoyd advancing down the wicket – intimidating and pushing up the run rate. The conclusion came in the 29^th over with Mack being caught at mid-off by a reaching Piparo off McGrath’s bowling. She returned to the pavilion with 69 runs off 85 balls.

Learoyd and Claire Moore picked up where Mack had left off, running singles and giving WA fielders quite the run around. Learoyd pushed into the 90’s courtesy of a square leg boundary, looking relatively untroubled by the bowling attack throughout, even after catching an earlier delivery on the glove. She powered to her century with consecutive boundaries. However, soon after Learoyd was run out at the non-strikers end, bowler Ebony Hoskin tapping the return from Moore onto the wicket – a whimper of an end to an excellent batting innings. Moore continued in a similar vein, lofting a massive 6 that had the WA fielder vaulting the advertising hoarding to retrieve. She fell just after reaching 50, caught at deep mid-on. An entertaining cameo partnership between Georgia Adams and Maitlan Brown at the end, saw the total inflate to 298 after 50 overs.

Pescel was the pick of the WA bowlers, her nippy skiddy balls returned an excellent economy of 2.62 from her 8 overs, leaving spectators slightly perplexed why Hoskin (economy rate 5.2) and Mills (6.60) were bowled out in her stead. New cap McGrath picked up two wickets, but NSW were largely able to bat as planned with WA unable to put them under enough pressure. 299 was the target.

After the innings break WA’s openers got off to a flying start, making the most of the powerplay, and getting to 56 runs by the end of the 9th over. Maddy Darke in particular drove several boundaries off the opening seam bowling. The wily spin of Samatha Bates in the 9th over brought about the change, with Chloe Piparo caught at mid-off by Lauren Kua executing an excellent running catch. This brought Mikayla Hinkley to the crease. Piparo’s wicket at the end of the powerplay began a swing of momentum back to NSW, as Caoimhe Bray and Bates teamed up with some tight bowling to slow WA’s run rate down. By the 16th over the strain showed on the WA batters with Hinkley hampered by some serious cramping. She batted for two more overs before retiring hurt on 21.

Hinkley was replaced by Mathilda Carmichael, who formed a steady partnership with Darke, working similarly to Mack and Learoyd and keeping the required run rate in check. At 25 overs, WA were neck-and-neck with the NSW score (each being 126/1 at this point), and again at 30 overs (157/1 vs 157/2 for NSW at the same point). This matching continued to over 40 – WA were 213/2 after losing Darke for 73 to a sharp direct hit run-out from Kua, and nothing separated them from NSW who were 214/2 at the same point.

Tension built though the last 10 overs, the school holiday vibe of the first innings into the second (kids running everywhere, liberal shouts of ‘great shot’) waned, and finger nails started to be bitten. The 40th over was a flashpoint with the dangerous Bhavisha Devchand run out on 33 by some brilliant work by Tahlia Wilson behind the stumps, despite a slightly wayward throw from fielder Kua. Any relief that NSW may have felt at this point disappeared as Hinkely marched back to the crease – cramp or no cramp she was there to get her team over the line. Teaming with Carmichael, they wrestled the momentum back to WA for the next few overs. The grit particularly from Carmichael batting was evident, but she fell to a full toss from Brown, chipping over her shoulder to a waiting Bates.

McGrath joined Hinkey, who was limping again by this stage, and each took on Brown’s bowling, with McGrath getting a 6 into the trees. Hinkley brought up her 50, and by the start of the 49th over, with 19 needed off 12, it looked like WA were going to make it. But with one shot too many, Hinkley was caught at square leg by Sarah Coyte, one of two wickets during an excellent penultimate over from captain Cheatle. This was the final stumble for WA, and after a tidy final over from Bates, they finished just short on 291.

It was a match for the ages – the closest WNCL match so far this season – WA’s heroic efforts meaning that Saturday’s second match-up could be a classic again.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Dharug country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

By Helen Maynard-Casely

And so we returned to Karen Rolton Oval for the second WCNL game between South Australia and Tasmania, where conditions could not have been more different to those of Friday. Bright warm sunshine gave way to overcast grey mizzle, classic early season cricket weather. Play was delayed by half an hour while umpires, ground staff and players alike waited for conditions to brighten. South Australian captain Jemma Barsby again won the toss and decided to bat first, with both sides fielding unchanged sides from Friday’s game.

The contrast in the weather also reflected the contrast in SA’s batting innings from Friday – with the side struggling from the very first ball. Nic Carey’s glorious in-swinger took the bails off Emma de Broughe’s wicket leaving the batter stunned as she walked right back to the pavilion. Then, by the fourth over fellow opener Bridget Patterson had been tempted into lofting a shot to Gibson fielding at mid on. Any hopes that Penna and Webb would fill the run void at this point were dashed by the next over, with Penna falling into a trap set by Carey again for her second wicket.

Carey’s bowling continued to be crafty all through the innings, and also claimed the wicket of Friday’s player of the match Courtney Webb for 14 with a shorter delivery. By this point SA were still in the powerplay, but severely struggling on 36/4. Excellent captaincy by Tasmania’s Elyse Villani kept the South Australian batters under wraps, with the next wicket brought about by a change of the bowling, Larosa caught at mid-off off Gibson’s ball.

South Australia continued to grind out some runs with the highlight being Ellie Johnston’s 63 off 82 balls.  She and Barsby weathered a long section of tight bowling from Tasmania, and chipped away, only being able to pick the field for the odd precious boundary. Johnston brought up her 50 with a stylish 6 over covers off Kathryn Bryce’s bowling just before second drinks. She looked to be finding her stride, but as is often the way was bowled by Carey the next ball after successfully threading through to the boundary.

Carey now sat on 4 wickets, but was denied her 5-fer by a belligerent Amanda-Jade Wellington who hit her for 6 and 4 in Carey’s tenth over. Wellington’s aggressive cameo of 20 runs came to an end with her run out at the non-strikers end, after chasing runs in the back of the innings. The tail fell cheaply, leaving South Australia on 196. Carey was the pick of the bowlers with 4-48 after 10 overs, but an honourable mention to Bryce’s 1-35 off her 10 overs, an economy rate that definitely helped keep the total limited.

By the time Tasmania’s inning’s commenced, Karen Rolton Oval was bathed in warm afternoon sunshine. With the outfield drying out it seemed that boundaries would come easier – but that proved not to be the case. Openers Lizelle Lee and Rachel Trenaman, unhurried by the chasable total, kept the scoreboard ticking over – but boundaries were hard won in the very early stages.  By the seventh over, however, the outfield was nipping and both Trenaman and Lee had the measure of the new ball and SA’s opening bowlers Courtney Neale and Ella Wilson.

But never count SA out, especially with a bowling attack that includes Amanda-Jade Wellington, now ably assisted by Isabella Malgioglio. Between them the run rate was brought down, and in the 15th over Wellington affected a breakthrough with Lee succumbing for 60 off a great running catch by Penna, followed by Carey being bowled for a duck. Villani worked to support Trenaman as Adelaide life literally flew past (a helicopter swooping over the Oval on its way to the next door hospital). But the temptation to knock the runs off at a fast rate saw Villani go for a boundary in the air, but find opposing captain Jemma Barsby instead. A few overs later Kathryn Bryce was at the crease, and together with Trenaman weathered the tight mid-innings spin, keeping the score ticking along.  It was all they needed to do, and by the 36th over a cover drive by Trenaman found the boundary to both make the total and see her carry her bat for 75 not out.

So brought to a close a fascinating weekend of cricket. Tasmania had done their homework over the rest day, and came up with successful plans to combat the SA batting attack. They capitalised on the momentum of a first ball wicket to keep SA to 196, quite a feat on a famously batter-friendly Oval.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Kaurna country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.

by Helen Maynard-Casely

A stunning Wirltuti (Spring day) marked the start of the WNCL for South Australia and Tasmania. It was held at Karen Rolton Oval, which sits very much in the thick of Adelaide life – traffic bustling around the ground, commuters able to glimpse pitchside as they scurry about their lives in Australia’s cathedral city. Those who paused and took in the match were treated to batting masterclasses followed by a remarkable stint of fielding captaincy.

The teams could be forgiven for first-game nerves, but neither of them showed it – instead the trepidation was only shown by the ground’s scoreboard which took until the 19th over of the game to be tamed to show updates from the pitch. South Australia had won the toss, and elected to bat – preferring to start the season on their own terms it would seem. What followed was a perfect attritional innings – with the teamsheet batters building a skyscraper of a total for the SA women to defend.

South Australian openers Emma de Broughe and Bridget Patterson played it perfectly, with a new-ball soaking 50 run partnership – including a lofty six from B Pat in the 6th over. With both falling within a couple of overs, Courtney Webb and Madeline Penna found themselves together at the crease by the end of the 14th over. And there they dug in, in spectacular style – building a match-winning 197-run partnership which saw both players reach centuries, textbook middle order batting. Webb remained to the end of the innings, and saw SA put a total of 330 on the board.

Though Tasmania didn’t seem to show too many nerves, the players who took their honours in the field were those on debut for the team – Scotswoman Kathryn Bryce took three wickets for 60 runs. Queenslander-in-search-of-cooler-climate Courtney Sippel took most of the high-impact catches, as well as the bonus wicket of Eleanor Larosa late in the innings. In fact, Sippel was highly visible on the field, and was in amongst most of the big fielding moments. Bowling changes seemed a little haphazard, with Tasmanian captain Villani choosing to bowl Lauren Smith out with the finish of the innings, rather than turning to end-of-innings specialist Nicola Carey.

With 330 to defend, a relaxed South Australia took to the field after the innings break. Opening bowling from Courtney Neale and Ella Wilson squeezed the Tasmanian openers and had the run rate starting to climb. Tasmanian opener Lizelle Lee brought a level of restraint to her shots not often seen, suggesting the ball around the field rather than her more usual slog/insistence way of playing shots. Along with Rachel Trenaman, Lee built a good partnership weathering the aggressive spell of bowling, particularly from Neale. Here, though, was where the genius of Jemma Barsby’s captaincy became clear – preventing the batting side from finding stride to shoot for the total. Four of the seven wickets taken from Tasmania were straight after bowling changes, coupled with fielding set and bowling executed in a way that prevented the batters from getting into the rhythm they needed. This was exemplified in the 18th over, which saw Barsby both bowling and commanding the fielders with the authority that only bowling captains show.

Then the openers were gone. Trenaman skied a ball which was caught by Busby off debutant Isa Malgioglio’s bowling and Lee was caught by Penna off the bowling of stalwart Amanda-Jade Wellington. Nicola Carey and Ellyse Villani were now in batting for Tasmania and fought valiantly to keep the required run rate under control. At times it seemed like they were grappling with a slippery fish, it writhed and wriggled, but by over 29 it looked like they might be starting to wrestle it under control. Then Carey got a metaphorical fin-slap – she tonked a ball towards mid-on, only to see bowler Barsby snatch it from the air, leaving Carey to depart the crease for 24.

From there the maths started to hurt, and the required run rate steadily climbed, while wickets ticked over. A seventh wicket stand from Hayley Silver-Holmes and Sippel was entertaining at the back of the innings, but ultimately Tasmania reached 294/7, 36 runs short.

A win on the table for South Australia, and on Sunday they return to face Tasmania again. Conditions for Sunday’s game are starkly different – cloudy with a slight chance of rain. Will this aid the Tasmanian spinners, perhaps preventing SA from getting the two-fer at their home ground? Or will SA brazen it out – Sunday’s match awaits.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Kaurna country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.