WNCL wrap: Chaotic tie caps epic opening weekend

It's a tie! Rain has the final say in strange finish at Karen Rolton Oval

The weekend’s second WNCL match between Victoria and South Australia has ended in a tie and split points after an ill-timed downpour in Adelaide halted proceedings just before the Super Over was due to get underway.

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It was a chaotic finish to the rain-affected match, with confusion among players and umpires once the second innings concluded with scores tied on Duckworth-Lewis, and the rain continuing to fall.

For the second time in three days, the match came down to a battle between South Australian allrounder Tahlia McGrath and Victorian allrounder Annabel Sutherland.

Following McGrath’s spectacular three final-over sixes off Sutherland’s bowling on Friday, the Victorian had the opportunity to reap revenge with her side needing nine runs off the final over, which was bowled by McGrath.

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But the South Australians efforts at the death ensured Sutherland was kept off strike, with her fellow batter Tess Flintoff unable to pierce the field.

The players were forced to activate T20 mode after a lengthy rain delay reduced Victoria’s DLS target to 119 off 23 overs.

With five overs already complete, openers Sophie Molineux and Makinley Blows resumed at 0-22 needing 97 runs from 18 overs.

Molineux swung the momentum in favour of the Victorians with a crucial 56 off 53, but Jemma Barsby wrestled it back the way of the hosts with a three-wicket burst that saw the back of Molineux, Ellyse Perry and Nicole Faltum in quick succession.

Earlier, Barsby (42 off 47) played a similarly important role with the bat, coming in at No.8 to combine with her captain Megan Schutt (33* off 39) for a 72-run ninth-wicket partnership to take the shine off a strong Victorian bowling performance.

Notably, Perry – who has been playing exclusively as a batter since suffering a stress fracture in her back at the World Cup in March – was thrown the ball by captain Molineux to make her return to bowling after a six-month hiatus.

Perry was gifted a wicket in her second over by a one-handed screamer from Molineux at short cover and finished with impressive figures of 1-7 from her three overs.

But it was quick Kim Garth (2-34) and offspinner Sophie Day (2-27) who led the way with the ball, while Sutherland was a livewire in the field, effecting three run outs, all of which involved Courtney Webb.

Victoria will return home for two fixtures against Tasmania next week, while South Australia will travel to Canberra to play the ACT Meteors

Run machine Mooney sets up emphatic win for WA

Beth Mooney has scored her first century in Western Australia colours, laying the foundation for an emphatic 117-run win over ACT Meteors.

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After going winless through season 2021-22, WA already have two wins from two games for the current season, with Mooney and Australia teammate Alana King again dominating at the WACA Ground.

Batting first, Mooney put on 99 for the first wicket with Chloe Piparo (44), before sharing a 94-run second-wicket stand with Maddy Darke (47).

She brought up triple figures from 109 deliveries then accelerated, and the Meteors simply had no answers for the Aussie superstar, who batted through the 50 overs to finish unbeaten on 151 from 140 balls.

Needing a hefty 298 for their first win of the season, Meteors openers Katie Mack and Rebecca Carter made a bright start, putting on 80 runs for the first wicket before King was introduced to the attack.

The leg-spinner quickly got the result her skipper Piparo was searching for, with Carter caught by Taneale Peschel for 26, and while Mack raised the bat for a half-century, she was soon walking back to the sheds after being bowled by King for 57.

Off-spinner Lilly Mills picked up her first wickets since moving to WA from Queensland, removing Olivia Porter and Carly Leeson, and regular wickets continued to fall, the ACT losing 6-30 to be all out for 180 in the 44th over.

King finished with 3-31 from her 10 overs, adding to Friday’s five-wicket haul, while Mills (2-30) and Peschel (2-35) were the other multiple wicket takers.

Western Australia travel to Sydney next weekend for back-to-back games against NSW Breakers at North Sydney Oval. The Meteors will head to Queensland, where they’ll face an in-form Fire outfit coming off twin victories over NSW.

Harris, Redmayne guide Queensland to huge win

Grace Harris has made a statement on the second day of the domestic summer with a blazing 77 not out off just 51 balls at North Sydney Oval.

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Queensland’s No.3 Harris partnered with Georgia Redmayne (61* off 60) for a 143-run stand to reel in New South Wales’ total of 155 in just 19.4 overs.

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NSW quick bowler Sammy-Jo Johnson gave the hosts a handy start to the second innings with the early wickets of Friday’s centurion Georgia Voll (0) and Charli Knott (1) but there was no stopping the Harris-Redmayne procession.

Harris was at her imposing, hard-hitting best and scored 14 fours and two sixes, hitting the winning runs with 182 balls to spare to seal the Fire’s second win over New South Wales in three days.

Earlier, Queensland captain Jess Jonassen’s decision to bowl first paid off as New South Wales were all out for 155 in 41.4 overs.

It was Georgia Prestwidge (3-28) and Courtney Sippel (2-36) who did the bulk of the damage with the ball and Harris’ off-spin was similarly impressive, collecting one wicket and conceding just 22 runs from her 7.4 overs.

NSW No.3 Phoebe Litchfield’s 42 was the highlight for NSW as Aussie stars Alyssa Healy (6) and Ashleigh Gardner (9) failed to trouble the scorers too much.

Queensland will be full of confidence ahead of two encounters with the ACT Meteors at Bill Pippen Oval next weekend, while the NSW will need to regroup before taking on Western Australia.