Smith's first five-fa helps Tassie to empathic win

Amy Smith has claimed her first Women's National Cricket League five-wicket haul to pave the way to Tasmania's four-wicket win over New South Wales in Sydney.

The 19-year-old leg-spinner took 5-33 from seven overs as the Breakers were kept to 9-197 from their 50 overs at Cricket Central.

The Tigers looked shaky at 4-76 in response, but Naomi Stalenberg (67no from 77) rallied alongside Tabatha Saville (55 off 60) to steer Tasmania home with 14.1 overs to spare.    

Molly Strano got the first breakthrough after NSW opted to bat first, with the former Australian off-spinner getting Claire Moore caught behind for seven.

Smith's first came when she trapped first drop Anika Learoyd (20) lbw and a second when she bowled the dangerous Erin Burns (1).

She then rolled through the lower order, dismissing Maitlan Brown (31), Sammy-Jo Johnson (34) and Sarah Coyte (7) to complete her maiden five-fa. 

"I was actually not enjoying my bowling early on, I thought I didn't actually bowl that well - but my second spell was a lot better," Smith said after the game.

"There was a bit of turn (but) it was pretty flat actually."

Opener Tahlia Wilson (41) provided the most resistance for the Breakers.

Lauren Cheatle (1-52) removed former South Africa opener Lizelle Lee without scoring courtesy of a screamer from Anika Learoyd in the slips, and Brown (2-32) picked up the key wickets of former Australian internationals Elyse Villani (24) and Nicola Carey (40) to have the hosts on top.

But a 104-run stand between Stalenberg and Saville steadied the Tasmania chase, as they completed their fifth win from five matches this season to maintain second spot on the table behind Queensland. 

The teams will meet again at Cricket Central on Sunday.

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