Elyse Villani became the most-capped player in WNCL history but her Tasmanian side suffered a second defeat to ACT this week
A gritty fightback in their batting innings has seen the ACT Meteors register a 10-run win over the Tasmanian Tigers at the Bellerive Oval in another closely fought WNCL tie.
It was a mammoth 142-run stand between Annie Wikman and Zoe Cooke that not just pulled the visitors out of a concerning position but took them to a considerable total of 295.
The home side was alive in the contest until the penultimate over, 21 short of the target, and with a firing Emma Manix-Geeves (83 off 60) on the crease.
But a dream 49th over from Anesu Mushangwe (3-34), with only three coming off it, forced Tasmania’s keeper-batter to hole out under pressure.
It was the woe-ridden Tigers’ sixth loss in a row as fresh injuries in Wednesday’s loss to the same opposition left their severely hit roster further depleted.
In a major blow, a quad injury had ruled out Rachel Trenaman, who has three centuries to her name in the season, including back-to-back in the last two games.
Trenaman’s opening partner from the previous game and the Tiger’s opening quick, Hayley Silver-Holmes, was also sidelined with an arm injury.
The side continued to be without the injured Ruth Johnston, who Silver-Holmes had covered for in the opening spot, as well as regular opener Lizelle Lee and allrounder Nicola Carey, who are both yet to return from their WPL assignments in India.
This left captain Elyse Villani to open alongside debutant Caitlin Mair in a new look pair at the top.
Villani, who crossed former Australian allrounder Lisa Sthalekar to become the most capped player in the WNCL with her 146th appearance in the tournament, could not make the occasion sweeter as she fell to Mushangwe on 12 off 26. However, young Mair got to raise her bat on debut with a 52 off 69.
Alongside leg-spinner Mushangwe, former England international Georgia Elwiss (3-58) was the pick of the bowlers for the Meteors, with her double-wicket 46th over proving a turning point in the chase.
Earlier, ACT opener Olivia Porter, fresh from her maiden WNCL ton on Wednesday, had again looked solid as she hit nine boundaries in her run-a-ball 46.
But despite a fast-paced start, the Meteors found themselves in trouble when the returning quick Julia Cavanough (4-56) and leg-spinner Maisy Gibson (2-46) kept rocking them to reduce them to 6-122.
It took a spirited effort from the pair of Wikman and Cooke to pull the side out of misery.
Wikman controlled one end, doing bulk of her scoring in singles and doubles for her 70 off 92. Player-of-the-match Cooke, on the other hand, took the accelerated route to her 83 off 78, with 10 boundaries and a six.
In the end, the pair’s toil led the Meteors to a total just short of 300 and one they would ultimately defend.
WNCL 2025-26 standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Total points
PTS
1
NSW
8
8
0
0
0
1.22
0
4
36
2
QLD
10
6
4
0
0
0.072
0
3
27
3
SA
8
5
3
0
0
-0.224
0
1
21
4
WA
8
4
4
0
0
-0.014
0
2
18
5
ACT
8
4
4
0
0
-0.057
0
1
17
6
TAS
10
3
7
0
0
0.17
0
3
15
7
VIC
8
0
8
0
0
-1.229
1
0
-1
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
PTS: Total points
