The South Australian Scorpions needed just four runs in the final over of their Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) title-clinching game against Tasmania, with five wickets in hand. Annie O'Neil and Jemma Barsby were on strike, and all they had to do was run four singles in the remaining six balls, having gotten a reduced target via DLS method. But this was not to be.
Sarah Coyte, wicketless throughout the match and with 30 runs against her name, was handed the responsibility of defending these four runs, with all the pressure on her shoulders, came up trumps against the Scorpions, taking five wickets in her six balls in what can be construed as a collapse of major proportions.
Coyte first bowled O'Neill with a brilliant straight delivery. Next, skipper Barsby departed courtesy of a brilliant stumping by wicketkeeper Emma Manix-Geeves.
Her third wicket was a beauty, after she deflected a straight drive by Ella Wilson onto the wicket to affect the run-out of her partner at the non-striker's end in Amanda-Jade Wellington. Wilson soon followed after being caught LBW, and with three runs now needed in the final ball, it was an easy decision to run out Zimbabwean Anesu Mushangwe, as Tasmania sealed their second consecutive trophy in the List A tournament.
Earlier, South African legend Lizelle Lee (48 off 46) partnered with skipper Elyse Villani (110 off 126), with the latter even scoring a century as her side set a target of 264 runs courtesy of Villani's crucial 139-run stand with Naomi Stalenberg (75 off 89). With the ball, Anesu Mushangwe (4/38) and Wellington (4/49) took four wickets each.
The Scorpions' batting was interrupted by continuous rain, but this did not deter Tasmania's attempts at retaining the trophy. Eventually, their opponents' batting collapsed as the South Australians were unable to chase down the target in such a comical manner.
