Two centuries and a 15-year-old debutant headlined Wednesday’s WNCL fixture between Tasmania and ACT
Olivia Porter has smashed her maiden WNCL century to set the tone for ACT Meteors’ five-wicket win over Tasmania as Rachel Trenaman’s hundred was once again eclipsed.
The Meteors bounced back strongly from the back-to-back drubbings by table-toppers NSW, and only narrowly missed out on a bonus point after a late fight shown by the Tasmanian bowlers saw them reach the target four balls after the 40-over mark.
The result meant Tigers opener Trenaman’s last two centuries have gone in vain with her 107 off 104 following an unbeaten 139 that proved to be in a losing cause against Queensland five days ago.
Trenaman’s wicket by Zoe Cooke, the pick of the ACT bowlers with figures of 4-44, triggered a collapse that eventually restricted the home side to 9-238, a total way below par on the batting-friendly Bellerive Oval wicket.
The Meteors started their chase in an emphatic fashion with Porter displaying her power to land an early blow to any hopes the Tigers would have had to defend the total.
The visiting side had raced to the 100-run mark when Porter’s opening partner Carly Leeson (28 off 38) was dismissed in the 15th over.
But while Scottish international Kathryn Bryce extracted three wickets on the other end, Porter rolled on with her attacking display, hitting three sixes and 12 boundaries.
By the time the former Sydney Thunder representative was finally dismissed on 107 (104) by 15-year-old debutant Mia Barwick, the Meteors were sitting on the doorstep of victory, which they ultimately achieved with 56 balls remaining.
The woes of the Tasmanian side, which has now lost five in a row since losing their two key members in Nicola Carey and Lizelle Lee to the Women’s Premier League, were aggravated by the injury-induced absence of spinner Lauren Smith (shoulder) and allrounder Ruth Johnston (hand).
Tigers Head Coach Jude Coleman had confirmed on Wednesday that Johnston, who had scored her maiden WNCL fifty in the previous game, had later copped a blow in the fielding innings that resulted in a broken bone in her hand.
They, however, welcomed back allrounder Bryce on her return from a successful ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers campaign with the Scottish side.
The injuries also opened the door for pace bowler Barwick, the Player of the Tournament at December’s Under-19 National Championships, to make her first WNCL appearance, which she capped off with the wicket of centurion Porter. The teenager has already represented the Hobart Hurricanes in the T20 Spring Challenge.
Sent in to bat by the Meteors, the Tigers’ move to fill in Johnston’s opening spot with Hayley Silver-Holmes failed to pay dividends as she was dismissed early on 7 off 12.
But on-song Trenaman found a partner in captain Elyse Villani (50 off 71) as the duo motored along to a 122-run stand.
The Tigers looked set to breach the 300-run mark when Trenaman and Villani were batting before the skipper was dismissed immediately after reaching her fifty and the century-maker followed suit soon after bringing up three-figures.
The dramatic collapse that followed put a stranglehold on the scoring, restricting Tasmania to 238 in their 50 overs.
Trenaman was nonetheless all class for the Tigers once again as her third century of the season took her right to the top of the run-scorers’ leaderboard.
The 24-year-old found runs around the field as she mixed some elegant straight drives with innovative shots to find boundaries behind the wicketkeeper.
Coleman had heaped praise on the right-hander on eve of the game, backing her credentials to earn a call up to the Australian team.
“She’s just one of those players that you forget that you’re coaching at times, and you just end up being a bit of a fan girl,” Coleman told reporters in Hobart. “She’s amazing to watch.”
“The challenge for Rachel now is to just stay (in the) present and not get too far ahead of herself and just keep enjoying batting and wanting to bat for a long period of time.
“And I think the rest will take care of itself, but she’s definitely got all the attributes.”
The Tigers will get a shot at revenge when the two sides meet again in another day-nighter on Friday.
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
7
7
0
0
0
1.327
0
4
32
2
QLD
9
6
3
0
0
0.141
0
3
27
3
WA
8
4
4
0
0
-0.014
0
2
18
4
SA
7
4
3
0
0
-0.309
0
1
17
5
TAS
9
3
6
0
0
0.213
0
3
15
6
ACT
7
3
4
0
0
-0.093
0
1
13
7
VIC
7
0
7
0
0
-1.335
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
