The Lend Lease Breakers head to Melbourne today focused on laying their hands on the elusive Women’s T20 trophy. Standing in the way are the defending champions, the Victoria Spirit.
The Lend Lease Breakers and Victoria will contest the Final of the Women’s T20 competition on Thursday afternoon at Etihad Stadium (January 12, 2:30pm), with the match being broadcast live on Fox Sports.
This is the third consecutive season that these two teams have played in this decider with Victoria winning on the two previous occasions.
As they have done for the past two summers, the Lend Lease Breakers finished on top of the WT20 competition ladder at the end of the preliminary rounds, four points clear of the Victorians who they beat by eight wickets in their one completed match this season, with their second T20 fixture abandoned due to rain after one innings.
Lend Lease Breakers captain, Alex Blackwell, said the team had prepared well for the Final with some big wins over Tasmania in Hobart last weekend.
“Our T20 and 50 over matches against Tasmania provided an excellent opportunity for players to have some time in the middle after the Christmas break. We tried a few different things with the bat and in the field and came away with three big wins to build momentum heading into this very important week of cricket,” she said.
“The Victorians have won the last two WT20 crowns, however, we are looking forward to wrestling that title away from them. There is some wonderful talent on show in both teams and I am expecting a very close match which will provide some terrific entertainment for those fans at the ground, and those watching on Fox Sports!” she added.
NSW selectors have named the same squad of 12 for tomorrow’s Final that played Tasmania. The full squad is (clubs/regional zones in brackets):
Alex Blackwell (captain – Universities/Riverina)
Erin Osborne (vice-captain – St George-Sutherland/Central North)
Sarah Coyte (Campbelltown-Camden)
Rachael Haynes (Universities)
Alyssa Healy (Sydney)
Claire Koski (Campbelltown-Camden)
Sharon Millanta (Bankstown Sports)
Ellyse Perry (Sydney)
Leah Poulton (St George-Sutherland)
Angela Reakes (North Coast/Sydney)
Lisa Sthalekar (Gordon)
Keeghan Tucker (Campbelltown-Camden/Western)
Tomorrow’s Women’s T20 decider is the first of two Finals the Lend Lease Breakers and Victoria will play this week.
On Saturday (January 14), they contest the Final of the Women’s National Cricket League (50 over) competition at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Lend Lease Breakers are the defending champions in this competition and are gunning for a record seventh consecutive title in this competition, and their 14th in 16 seasons.
