‘I’ve never seen anything like that’: Tasmania celebrates after South Australia implodes in WNCL final

Tasmania captain Elyse Villani says she thought her team was “done and dusted” before they staged a stunning comeback to win the WNCL final against South Australia in Hobart.

South Australia appeared on the verge of claiming victory when it needed just four runs to win – with five wickets in hand – at the beginning of the final over at Bellerive Oval.

But it fell apart for the Scorpions in dramatic fashion, with the visitors losing all five wickets during Sarah Coyte’s final over, giving Tasmania a one-run win under the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) method and its second consecutive WNCL title.

Coyte took three wickets and pulled off a run-out during the over, helping her earn the player of the match award.

Villani —who had earlier scored 110 in Tasmania’s innings — sealed the win when she ran out Anesu Mushangwe at the non-strikers end on the final delivery, with the Scorpions having needed three runs for victory.

“It was just a remarkable game. We were so speechless,” Villani told ABC Sport.

“We thought we were done and dusted in that last over and then Coytey (Coyte) was so cool, calm and collected at the end.

“There was probably a five per cent chance at the beginning of the over that we would end up being victors, but cricket is a funny game.

“I’ve never seen anything like that, I’ve certainly never been a part of anything like that before.

“I was very relieved when we were walking off the ground, to be honest, to be able to pull that off.”

Villani praised Coyte for showing cool nerves when she was handed the ball to bowl the final over.

“All she needs to do then is run and hopefully bowl it as well as she can, and she couldn’t have executed it any better,” Villani said.

“It was unbelievable stuff from Coytey.”

Coyte finished with the figures of 4-30 from eight overs.

Tasmania had earlier made 264 from its 50 overs, but rain delays during the Scorpions’ innings meant they needed 23 from 18 deliveries to win under an adjusted DLS target.

The Scorpions were eventually all out for 241.