The Lend Lease Breakers have won a thrilling Women’s T20 clash against Queensland at Blacktown International Sportspark today, with the match decided in a Super Over.
NSW went into this match looking to achieve a clean sweep of the round after comfortable victories over Queensland in Friday’s WT20 fixture and Saturday’s WNCL 50 over match.
Batting first, NSW posted 6-142 off their 20 overs. Alyssa Healy and Leah Poulton got the Breakers off to a flyer, smashing 41 runs in the first five overs before Poulton was caught behind for 15.
Healy and Alex Blackwell maintained the rage with a 40 run second wicket stand that saw NSW reach 1-81 in the 10th over. It was at this point that Queensland started their fight-back, taking the wickets of Healy (33) and Rachael Haynes (0) within a few balls of each other to help stem the flow of runs.
However, the Lend Lease Breakers were able to regain their momentum with Alex Blackwell (46), Erin Osborne (25) and Sarah Coyte (13) combining to add a further 53 runs in eight overs.
Queensland were desperate for the win and they came out swinging, with Delissa Kimmince (21) and Beth Mooney (25) putting on 43 runs in the first six overs.
Kimmince was the first to fall, lbw to Sarah Coyte, with Alex Blackwell taking a sensational catch at mid-wicket to remove Mooney off the bowling of Angela Reakes soon after.
It was the start of a terrific spell of leg-spin bowling by Player of the Match, Reakes. She continually tied down the batters, with that pressure leading to the run out of the big hitting Grace Harris for 23.
The loss of Harris saw Queensland on 3-82 at the end of 13 overs, however, they weren’t going to lie down with Jodie Fields and Mel Bulow scoring at over seven runs an over during their 39 run fourth wicket stand, before Fields was caught by Osborne to give Coyte her second wicket for the match.
The 19th over of the innings was a huge one for Queensland, with Jess Jonassen and Mel Bulow taking 16 runs from Sharon Millanta to take the equation from 22 runs off 12 balls for victory, to just six off six. However, Sarah Coyte held her nerve to restrict the batters to just five runs and force the match into a Super Over.
Queensland batted first in Super Over with Jonassen and Harris taking on Coyte. They scored just five runs from their six deliveries with Coyte also picking up Jonassen’s wicket on the penultimate delivery.
The Lend Lease Breakers opted to send in Alyssa Healy and Leah Poulton for their Super Over, with Delissa Kimmince chosen by Queensland to bowl.
The first ball was a wide with Alyssa Healy taking a single from the next delivery. The second legal ball of the over saw Leah Poulton try to go down the ground, only to find the top edge of the bat with Kimmince accepting a straight forward caught and bowled chance.
The third ball was hit for a single by Healy before Alex Blackwell brought an abrupt end to the match on the fourth ball, flicking a full toss to the fine leg boundary for four.
Today’s win sees the Lend Lease Breakers maintain their unbeaten run in both formats this summer. They are currently second on the WT20 competition ladder, two points behind Victoria but with two games in hand, and equal first in the WNCL alongside the Vics, but with one game in hand.
Their next assignment is against South Australia in a fortnight with matches to be played at Drummoyne Oval and the SCG (December 20-22).
