Nicola Carey has hit Tasmania to a third consecutive WNCL crown, with an unbeaten century lifting the Tigers to a six-wicket win over Queensland in the final.
Chasing 249 for victory, Carey hit a composed 111 from 135 deliveries to control the Tigers’ innings and get them home with 14 balls to spare at Bellerive Oval.
Perennial battlers in the 50-over competition for their first 10 seasons after joining in 2010/11, the Tigers won their first title in 2021/2022 before backing it up with two more.
Carey barely offered the Fire a chance, pulling powerfully and twice reverse-sweeping spinner Charli Knott to the boundary.
She brought up her century off 128 balls, after previously contributing a 132-run partnership with Heather Graham (63 off 75) that swung the match.
The Fire briefly had a sniff when Graham was bowled trying to reverse sweep Georgia Voll, before Naomi Stalenberg was caught three balls later for a duck.
At that point the Tigers needed 67 runs from 68 balls with six wickets in hand, but Carey and Emma Manix-Geeves (28 not out) ensured there would be no late jitters.
“I’m relieved. That was stressful,” Carey said.
“I felt scratchy but Heather and EMG [Manix-Geeves] made my life so much easier.”
Earlier, Graham took 3 for 39 with the ball to stop any hope of Queensland setting an unattainable target.
With the Fire 2 for 115 in the 28th over, Graham got a ball to skid on and bowl Lauren Winfield-Hill for 28.
She then had Mikayla Hinkley LBW on 33, before bowling a hard-hitting Knott for 73 late in the innings to keep Queensland to 7 for 248.
Tasmania’s victory makes it the second state to achieve a hat-trick of WNCL titles, with NSW having at one stage won 10 straight between 2005/06 and 2014/15.
AAP
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