South Australia overcome shaky start to end Fire's unbeaten run

A star-studded South Australia have ended Queensland's unbeaten run in the WNCL with a vital four-wicket, bonus-point victory.

It was a century partnership from Emma de Broughe (71) and Jemma Barsby (42no) that proved to be the difference for the visitors, whose XI included national team regulars Tahlia McGrath, Darcie Brown and Megan Schutt.

South Australia entered the match in sixth spot on the WNCL table, way below ladder leaders Queensland, who had six wins from six starts.

But SA reached the total in only 38.3 overs, securing the bonus point with nine balls to spare.

After choosing to bowl first, South Australia put in excellent all-round bowling display led by Amanda-Jade Wellington (5-42) and restricted the Fire to only 180.

SA found themselves in trouble early in the chase at 5-57 in the 12th over on what proved to be a tricky surface on the traditionally batter-friendly Allan Border Field.

But Queensland would come to rue the sheer number of wides (29) they gifted South Australia to fall to their first loss of the season.

With only a small total to defend, the Fire's Sianna Ginger and Bonnie Berry took five wickets between them with the new ball to give their side a chance.

McGrath inside-edged onto her own stumps for 12 after a short but aggressive innings, while Bridget Patterson was expertly stumped down the leg-side by Georgia Redmayne in the innings' first over.

de Broughe was the only batter to pass 50 for the match, reading the conditions the best out of anyone as she focused on taking singles and twos rather than feeling pressured to hit the boundary.

The exception to that was her over-the-head scoop shot, which she pulled off on a couple of occasions.

Captain Barsby was the calm head SA needed at the other end, and as the only left-hander in her side's top order, she acted as the perfect foil for de Broughe.

Earlier, Wellington spun out Queensland's lower order to take the second five-wicket haul of her career.

The leg-spinner took the final five wickets of the innings to bring her to 163 career WNCL scalps, only three shy of Lisa Sthalekar's (166) all-time competition record.

It was a frustrating innings for the hosts, with all bar two of the top seven making it into double figures but no-one scoring more than Lauren Winfield-Hill's 33.

Schutt took 2-27 from eight overs, while Brown (1-39) and McGrath (1-23) both took one apiece.

The hosts entered the match without five of their first choice XI, with captain Jess Jonassen on the comeback from a shoulder injury and Grace Harris, Charli Knott, Lucy Hamilton and Georgia Voll at the Women's Premier League in India.

The sides meet again on Thursday, with Queensland's lead at the top of the WNCL cut to only three points following NSW's bonus-point victory over ACT in Canberra.

WNCL 2025-26 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 Queensland Fire QLD	7	6	1	0	0	0.542	0	3	27
2 NSW Women NSW	5	5	0	0	0	1.171	0	2	22
3 Tasmanian Tigers Women TAS	6	3	3	0	0	0.692	0	3	15
4 Western Australia Women WA	6	2	4	0	0	-0.222	0	2	10
5 ACT Meteors ACT	5	2	3	0	0	-0.006	0	1	9
6 South Australia Women SA	5	2	3	0	0	-0.643	0	1	9
7 Victoria Women VIC	6	0	6	0	0	-1.53	1	0	-1

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