Vics keep final dream alive, knock off Scorpions

Victoria have kept their hopes of making the Women’s National Cricket League final alive with a four-wicket win over South Australia.

After bowling the Scorpions out for 231 at Karen Rolton Oval, Sophie Reid (67 off 80) and Tess Flintoff (55no off 73) led the way as the Vics reached their target with 14 balls to spare.

Needing to bounce back from a comprehensive eight-wicket defeat to the same opponent at Adelaide Oval on Monday, South Australia fought back from 5-111 to post a competitive total.

Each of the Victoria top three made starts without being able to kick on, with Sophie Molineux (34 off 43) dismissed by debutant Eleanor Larosa, Nicole Faltum falling to leggie Anesu Mushangwe and Meg Lanning bowled by Sam Betts.

But Reid and Flintoff combined in a 116-run stand to put the Victorians well on their way, and while the departure of Reid in the 45th over, and the back-to-back dismissals of Ella Hayward (2) and Georgia Prestwidge (0) put pressure on the visitors, Tayla Vlaeminck (6no) joined Flintoff to seal the win.

Earlier, Courtney Webb (75 off 104) and Amanda-Jade Wellington (67 off 59) helped the Scorpions out of trouble.

Left-arm spinners Sophie Day (4-42) and Molineux (2-35) led the way with the ball for Victoria.

The defeat almost extinguishes South Australia’s hopes of making a third consecutive WNCL final, while Victoria face a challenging final round against ladder leaders Tasmania.

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