The NSW Breakers have won the Women's National Cricket League title for a 15th time after a six-wicket Duckworth-Lewis victory over the Queensland Fire in a rain-interrupted final at the SCG on Sunday.
Queensland posted a good score of 7-232 from their 50 overs and would have been confident of claiming the title when they reduced the Breakers to 4-135 after 27 overs in reply.
But heavy rain across Sydney forced the players from the field and the umpires had no option but to call the game off at 5:30pm local time as the Breakers won their eighth straight WNCL title.
After winning the toss and electing to field, the Breakers made a bright start by getting rid of the dangerous Beth Mooney for 10 in the fourth over of the day.
Melissa Bulow (19) and skipper Jodie Fields (102 not out) steadied the ship for the Fire, but some tight bowling from Sarah Coyte (2-34) and Sarah Aley (1-40) made scoring hard to come by for the visitors.
Bulow fell to Coyte in the 14th over and Kirby Short (seven) was dismissed shortly after as the Fire were reduced to 3-68 and looked to be in deep trouble.
But with Fields at the crease, the Fire would have always been confident of posting a competitive score.
The veteran combined with Delissa Kimmince (16) for a partnership of 42 and then another handy stand of 55 with Jude Coleman as the Fire put some pressure on the Breakers' attack.
Despite losing Coleman for 24, Fields and Jemma Barsby (27) then combined in the final overs to ensure the Breakers had a tough target to chase down.
After the early loss of Leah Poulton for 12, Rachael Haynes (36) and Alex Blackwell (42 not out) scored freely as the Breakers moved to 1-72 in the 13th over to be seemingly in control.
But Kimmince (2-16) dismissed Haynes and Lisa Sthalekar (one) in quick succession as the Fire fought back strongly to give themselves a chance of victory.
With dark clouds hovering overhead and sensing that the Duckworth-Lewis system may come into play, Alyssa Healy and Blackwell upped the run rate in an attempt to keep the Breakers above the par score.
Healy fell to Barsby (1-12) for a well-compiled 22, but Coyte (11 not out) came in to hit a couple of handy boundaries before the rain set in.
The Breakers' total was 15 runs ahead of the required Duckworth-Lewis score of 120, handing the hosts yet another WNCL title.
First Posted 13 January, 2013 6:26PM AEST
