The New South Wales Breakers have started their WNCL campaign with a comfortable five-wicket victory over the Queensland Fire in Silverwater, courtesy of an all-round masterclass from veteran Erin Burns.
Queensland was rolled for 182 after a dramatic collapse of 8-45 on a slow wicket at Cricket Central, with NSW chasing down the below-par target with 82 balls to spare.
Player of the match Burns snared four wickets, including the crucial scalps of Fire captain Jess Jonassen and opener Georgia Voll, before scoring an unbeaten 31 (26) in the run chase, with Breakers teammate Ash Gardner cracking 54 (56) in an entertaining blitz.
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“Really good to get the win, and even sweeter that it’s against Queensland,” Burns said.
“There wasn’t a hell of a lot of turn, so we identified that we really needed to target the stumps, and a change of pace was going to be key on this wicket to get them playing across the line.
“It gives us a bit of confidence going into the rest of the tournament.”
Jonassen won the toss and elected to bat first, with former Queensland teammate Sammy-Jo Johnson striking in the opening over, trapping wicketkeeper Georgia Redmayne on the pads for 4.
Voll (65 from 94 balls) and Charli Knott (47 from 69 balls) combined for a 110-run partnership for the second wicket before Burns and the NSW seamers ripped through the middle order, with Queensland losing 9-66 after the 24th over. Burns finished with 4-31 from ten overs, her best bowling performance for New South Wales in the WNCL.
In response, Breakers openers Alyssa Healy (23 from 28 balls) and Phoebe Litchfield (29 from 38 balls) combined for a 55-run partnership before both departed in quick succession.
However, Gardner blasted a 46-ball fifty, which featured a cracking six over the sight screen, to put the hosts within touching distance of the target before Burns knocked off the remainder of the deficit with more than 12 overs to spare.
Friday’s victory also marked the long-awaited return of seamer Sarah Coyte, who leaked just 22 runs across eight overs during her first match for the Breakers since 2015.
“It’s great to see her back in Blues colours … she’s obviously a seasoned vet and she’s been around the traps for quite some time,” Burns continued.
“We struggled a little bit last season with consistency with the ball. To have her on board, and do what she does so well, which is just be incredibly consistent and economical, which she’s obviously done for us again today, is showing good signs for the rest of the season.”
Healy, still recovering from a finger injury, didn’t don the gloves during Queensland’s innings, handing over the wicketkeeping duties to Breakers teammate Tahlia Wilson. However, the Australian stand-in captain is still expected to serve as wicketkeeper during the upcoming T20I series against the West Indies.
Elsewhere in the WNCL, the South Australia Scorpions cruised towards a crushing seven-wicket victory over the ACT Meteors at Karen Rolton Oval.
Scorpions captain Jemma Barsby claimed a five-wicket haul to restrict the Meteors to 219, with Katie Mack left stranded on 95 not out, before fifties from openers Bridget Patterson (51 from 90 balls) and Emma de Broughe (77 from 95 balls) guided the hosts towards the target in 38.4 overs.
NSW and Queensland will face off again at the same venue on Sunday, with the first ball scheduled for 9.30am AEST.
