Villani on track but Tigers sweat on Strano ahead of final

Tasmania captain Elyse Villani is on track to play in the Women’s National Cricket League final against Queensland, however leading wicket-taker Molly Strano remains a doubt for Saturday’s showpiece.

Villani missed the Tigers’ most recent WNCL match, against Victoria last Wednesday, due to inflammation on the shoulder she injured last season.

However coach Jude Coleman revealed on Tuesday that her skipper was a good chance of walking out for the toss at Blundstone Arena this weekend.

“She's progressed really nicely,” Coleman said.

“(She) had a full training session yesterday, so fingers crossed it doesn't flare up again but all going well for the rest of the week, she’ll be available.”

The Tigers coach could not give as optimistic a prognosis for Strano, however.

The 31-year-old off-spinner, who has made seven appearances for Australia at T20I level, has taken 17 wickets in nine matches this season, the state’s joint-most alongside spin partner Lauren Smith.

Strano suffered a broken hand in Tasmania’s WNCL match against Western Australia earlier this month, and remains a doubt for the decider.

“We're hoping we'll know a little bit more by Thursday,” Coleman said.

“She had a bowl last night, but obviously (we) haven't tested it in the field or anything like that yet, so still a fair way off knowing whether she'll be available …

“We'll give her every opportunity that we can that it doesn't affect the team … but it's one of those injuries where if she gets a knock and it stops her from being able to bowl, that can affect our whole bowling line-up.

“So we'll want to be pretty certain that she can get through the whole innings …

“It adds to the stress, but I do feel completely confident in the squad that we've got together and the girls showed that they can still perform without them, but yeah, I'm not going to lie, it does make it a little bit more stressful.”

Queensland sisters Laura and Grace Harris – who boast the competition’s highest and third-highest strike rates respectively this season – will be unavailable for the final due to Women’s Premier League commitments in India.

However Coleman said their absence did not make Tasmania’s task an altogether easier one.

“They're still a really strong prospect,” she said.

“They've got players like Georgia Redmayne, Georgia Voll, Nic Hancock, Charli Knott – there's plenty of good players in that side. (They have) a really strong bowling lineup, the leading wicket-taker for the tournament so far in Grace Parsons – so yeah, Queensland's always a really tough challenge.

“They'll be great whether they've got their WPL players or not and (they’re) always dangerous when they're the underdogs.”

After winning their first ever WNCL title in 2021-22, Tasmania went back-to-back last season in a final dubbed the most incredible domestic cricket match ever played on Australian soil.

With opponents South Australia five wickets down requiring just four runs for victory from the final over, the Tigers took five wickets in six balls (three wickets to seamer Sarah Coyte and two run-outs) to seal a scarcely believable win in the most dramatic fashion.

Now, hunting a third straight title, last season’s against-the-odds win gave the team even more belief according to Coleman.

“I think it certainly gives us confidence”, she said.

The Tigers, though, have shown they are vulnerable in recent times.

After a dream run saw them claim 24 of 26 WNCL games from December 2021 until this January, Tasmania have since lost two of their last four matches, against Western Australia and Victoria.

WNCL 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Total points PTS
1 Tasmanian Tigers Women TAS	12	9	2	0	1	0.98	0	5	43
2 Queensland Fire QLD	12	8	3	0	1	1.224	0	7	41
3 Victoria Women VIC	12	7	5	0	0	0.013	0	4	32
4 Western Australia Women WA	12	6	6	0	0	-0.113	0	4	28
5 NSW Women NSW	12	6	6	0	0	-0.105	0	2	26
6 South Australia Women SA	12	4	8	0	0	-0.063	0	3	19
7 ACT Meteors ACT	12	1	11	0	0	-2.006	0	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

PTS: Total points