By Helen Maynard-Casely
On Saturday, NSW Breakers secured their place in the WNCL final, and on Sunday evening it became a home final with the washout in Canberra between ACT and SA. They returned to the field today at Cricket Central to host Tasmania for the team in Green’s final match of this season.
NSW rookie Lucy Finn pushes the ball to midwicket as she teamed up with Sarah Coyte to save the NSW innings and build a defendable total.
NSW had one change, with Alyssa Healy returning to the Australian squad ahead of the one-dayers against India, bringing Georgia Adams back into the Breakers. Tasmania made no changes to the squad from Saturday. NSW won the toss and decided to take a bat, and when they were over eight they probably wondered if that was a good decision. The overcast conditions played into Tasmania’s hands and an early swing was used devastatingly by Callie Wilson, who retired NSW’s best hitters. First Katie Mack who slid a throw high into keeper Lizelle Lee’s gloves, then Wilson pinned Anika Learoyd to the pads a few balls later. Tahlia Wilson was her namesake’s next wicket as she slid a ball to the waiting keeper. Taswegian Kathryn Bryce joined the celebrations in the next over as Claire Moore tracked the ball with her bat before it too went to the keeper. Georgia Adams and Maitlan Brown worked to keep the NSW innings steady, but they too were sent back to the bench, with NSW having just 88 runs on the board.
As Breakers wickets seemed to tumble in the surf, fresh faces Lucy Finn and veteran Sarah Coyte were at the crease and saved the innings with a fantastic 7th wicket partnership of 128 runs. They worked hard for every run, and the youth’s eagerness caused Finn to almost run out a few times. They passed 50 runs each in the 44th over, while the Tasmanian bowlers could only despair as to what plan they would try next. Lucy Finn’s 6 over center indicated she was about to make a big shot, but as so often happens, she was caught two balls later. Coyte struck through to end the innings with 82 not out – giving NSW a defendable total of 274 after batting out their 50 overs. From the Tasmanian bowlers, as well as Callie Wilson’s impact early on, Maisie Gibson had maintained excellent economy while giving away just 30 runs for her 10 overs.
Tasmania’s batters got off to a better start compared to Saturday, and things looked dangerous towards the end of the powerplay, with both openers starting to hit out. Lizelle Lee had launched an ominous 6 into the stands and NSW would start to worry. But Finn continued her day with the bat, as she took a wicket maiden with the ball by forcing Lee to chop the ball onto her stumps, restricting the batsman to 22 runs. But this still left Rachel Trenaman in trouble, who was keen to extend her lead over Katie Mack as top scorer in the comp. Backed by Ruth Johnston, Trenaman began to build a partnership and shot past the 50-run mark with apparent ease. But then Sarah Coyte struck with a beautiful delivery that took Trenaman’s leg stump. From here the wickets fell steadily through a combination of bowling to plan and taking catches. A particular turning point came when Coyte smashed down the non-striker’s stumps with a direct hit from backward point to eliminate in-form batswoman Emma Manix-Geeves. A wagging tail, mainly from Maisie Gibson who rounded the ball for 45 runs for the 11th wicket, was not enough to trouble the NSW defense, and Tasmania ended their innings 37 runs short. Sarah Coyte was rewarded for her all-round heroics with bat, ball and fielding with the Player of the Match award for the day.
However, NSW will not be making any plans for their home final just yet, they have one more round to participate in, away to South Australia where they will be guests at the Adelaide Oval. South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland will all be chasing that second final spot in the next round, so each of the two matches will have implications for the rankings. However, Tasmania has now completed the 2025/26 WNCL season and will return across the Bass Straight and consider new plans for the future.
Helen (Crystallized cricket) is a writer based in the land of Dharug and Gundagarra, and here he writes about a game played in the land of Dharug. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands from which she writes.
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