Young gun Knott slams WNCL career-best in huge Fire win

Queensland young gun Charli Knott has celebrated her selection in the Governor-General's XI to face England next month with a sterling knock to guide the Fire to a comfortable six-wicket win over ACT in the WNCL.

Set 169 for victory after ACT Meteors opted to bat first at EPC Solar Park in Canberra, Knott's fine 79 not out from 72 balls helped Queensland reach their target with more than 21 overs remaining.

The 22-year-old allrounder struck 12 boundaries and had ample support from opener Lauren Winfield-Hill who was dropped at midwicket in the first over on four before going on to make 45 from 51 balls.

It was Knott's career-best WNCL score and comes after she hit her maiden century in the 50-over format while playing for Southern Vipers in the English domestic competition earlier this year.

Earlier, Knott (1-20) also picked up the final wicket of the ACT innings to dismiss the hosts for 168 in the 41st over.

Knott's next match will be on January 9 at North Sydney Oval against the touring English side as she looks to press a late claim for an Ashes berth.

The right-hander was today named alongside Australia captain Alyssa Healy, Georgia Voll and Darcie Brown in the Governor-General's XI, with the Aussie trio seeking an extra hit-out ahead of the first Ashes ODI at the same venue three days later.

Grace Dignam (31 off 38 and 2-32) and Katie Mack (24) put on 55 for the second wickets to give the Meteors a solid platform but were the only two batters to pass 20.

ACT's middle order all got starts but regular wickets stopped them from gaining any momentum as Carly Leeson (11), Annie Wikman (16), Rachel Carroll (19) and Grace Lyons (18) all reached double figures but fell shortly after.

Spinner Anesu Mushangwe (17no off 21) provided some late impetus to boost the ACT total.

Former Australia allrounder and Queensland skipper Jess Jonassen was the pick of the bowlers with 4-31 from her 10 overs.

Queensland head home from Canberra with two wins from two matches after also winning Friday's match by three wickets with almost 30 overs remaining.

They sit second in the standings with 19 points from six games as the competition breaks for the holiday period, while ACT are last with no wins from four matches.

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	6	5	1	0	0	1.006	0	2	22
2 Queensland Fire QLD	6	4	2	0	0	1.714	0	3	19
3 NSW Women NSW	6	4	2	0	0	0.565	0	1	17
4 Victoria Women VIC	4	3	1	0	0	-0.193	0	0	12
5 Tasmanian Tigers Women TAS	6	2	4	0	0	-0.635	0	1	9
6 Western Australia Women WA	4	0	4	0	0	-1.442	0	0	0
7 ACT Meteors ACT	4	0	4	0	0	-2.282	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