Defending champs Tasmania blown away by NSW young guns

Tasmania's charge towards a fourth-consecutive WNCL title has hit a major roadblock after back-to-back losses to NSW at home.

A second top-order collapse within three days led the Tigers to a 159-run defeat, which followed a three-wicket loss they suffered on Saturday.

The win came with more positives for the Breakers with the two youngest players in their side being the top performers in both innings – 19-year-old Elsa Hunter's 93 off 115 was followed by 3-7 from Caoimhe Bray, who at just 15 years old has become cricket's new star.

Despite the favourable result from two days ago, NSW chose to change it up and have a bat first on Monday.

After the early loss of fellow opener Tahlia Wilson, Hunter put together a 159-run stand with Anika Learoyd, who brought up a composed half-century before falling to Maisy Gibson on 71 in the 33rd over.

Hunter was given a life in the field on 81 but wasn’t so lucky in the 42nd over, when she was caught in the same region off Heather Graham by Nicola Carey, who ran in from long on for a well-judged grab.

Despite not getting the milestone, young Hunter had set the platform for the Breakers to go for a big total.

Skipper Georgia Adams finished on a quick-fire 62 not out off 52, while Sammy-Jo Johnson came in to play a cameo of 20 off 14 to take the visitors to 5-288 at the end of their 50 overs.

Molly Strano was the Tigers' most successful bowler with two scalps. The usually economical spinner, however, gave away runs at 6.4 an over on Monday.

With a significant number of runs to chase down, Tigers' captain Elyse Villani came in with a clear intention of taking the game head on. She found a boundary off the second ball of the innings and again off the first ball of the second over.

But in her attempt to pull Bray for a maximum, she found Hannah Darlington on the deep backward square leg boundary.

Bray displayed the same fearlessness that she had on her WBBL debut in October, returning to bowl a double-wicket maiden, in which she removed the dangerous Lizelle Lee and Graham – who has been called up to join the Australian squad in New Zealand as a replacement for the injured Sophie Molineux for the upcoming ODIs.

It was Maitlan Brown's turn to cause damage next as she sent back Naomi Stalenberg (0 off 8) and Emma Manix-Geeves (2 off 2) in quick succession, leaving Tasmania shipwrecked on 5-37.

Nicola Carey, the last experienced bat remaining, couldn’t fight for long as a back-of-the-length delivery from Darlington crashed the top of her off stump.

Samantha Bates then ended Tabatha Saville's (13 off 34) attempt at resistance and lower order cameos from Amy Smith, Strano and Julia Cavanough – all scoring in 20s – were not enough as Tasmania’s innings folded in 32 overs.

Second-placed NSW now have as many points (17) as the table-toppers South Australia, who have two games on hand over the Breakers and will be taking on Victoria later this week.

Tasmania are in fourth place with nine points and their road to finals has become more challenging.

Both teams will be in action again on January 12, with the Breakers facing Western Australia and the Tigers playing Queensland.

WNCL 2024-25 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 South Australia Women SA	4	4	0	0	0	1.1	0	1	17
2 NSW Women NSW	6	4	2	0	0	0.565	0	1	17
3 Queensland Fire QLD	4	2	2	0	0	1.049	0	1	9
4 Tasmanian Tigers Women TAS	6	2	4	0	0	-0.635	0	1	9
5 Victoria Women VIC	2	2	0	0	0	0.328	0	0	8
6 ACT Meteors ACT	2	0	2	0	0	-1.431	0	0	0
7 Western Australia Women WA	4	0	4	0	0	-1.442	0	0	0

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