Tasmania has claimed back to back WNCL titles after one of the most chaotic finishes to a cricket game in the history of the sport.
Coming into the last over of a stop-start rain affected final at Blundstone Arena in Hobart, South Australia needed just four runs to win.
But what followed was a disastrous display of panicked batting combined with some sharp glovework sprinkled with some good luck, which saw the Scorpions crumble to lose five wickets in six balls to lose the title by one run.
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Thrown the ball to bowl the last over, Sarah Coyte clean bowled Annie O’Neill when she danced down the wicket and tried to end the game with the first ball of the over.
The brought Amanda-Jade Wellington to the crease, who worked the ball to third man for a single off the second ball.
With the third, Jemma Barsby also came down the wicket, and when she missed, some smart glovework from Emma Manix-Geeves saw the bails whipped off and the equation now three from three.
If the stumping was skill, the third wicket to fall for the over was probably luck. New batter Ella Wilson crunched Coyte back down the wicket, but Coyte managed to get a hand on the ball in her follow-through, which ricocheted onto the stumps and left Wellington run-out.
Wilson was next to fall with the fifth ball of the over, out lbw when she tried to play across the line to a straight ball and missed.
Still needing three to win – or two to tie – off the last ball, Anesu Mushangwe hit it to mid off and managed to get a single, but was run out looking to force the issue and send the game to a super over.
In commentary, Peter Newlinds said it was a “freakish” performance from Coyte.
“This is extraordinary,” he said.
“Can you believe that? They have gone back-to-back in the most dramatic circumstances. Look at the scenes out in the middle.
“They have pulled that out of the fire – and I just do not know what has happened to the Scorpions.
“It’s a game that will go down in cricket folklore.”
Earlier, a strong partnership between Emma de Broughe and Courtney Webb had the Scorpions cruising at 2-153 when Coyte found herself in the thick of the action, taking a good catch to remove de Broughe for 68 off the bowling of Maisy Gibson (1-37).
But with Webb still at the crease, South Australia remained strong favourite
Despite the obvious scoreboard pressure, Coyte said she was calm going into the final over.
“You are always ahead until they pass you, and we knew we had to create a few dot balls but the pressure was always going to be on them,” she said.
“If I executed what I wanted to bowl, we were always going to be a chance and I’m glad it came off.
“I was actually pretty calm … I’d spoken to [Tasmania coach] Jude Coleman before I went out and was really clear with where I was going to bowl.
“It was a really bizarre game, it was stop-start where we were constantly looking at Duckworth-Lewis. The game ebbed and flowed a lot.
“This is the best game I’ve been a part of without a doubt. You can’t ever replicate a game like that.”
Batting first, a century to Elyse Villani and strong performances from Naomi Stalenberg and Lizelle Lee saw the Scorpions set the Tigers 265 to win from their 50 overs.
Two brief rain interruptions saw the Tigers target revised down to 242 from 47 overs.
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