A stunning Warrior debut from Ruby Strange and an unbeaten century from Australian star Beth Mooney have denied Tasmania an opening WNCL win against Western Australia.
Featuring three debutants of their own, a young Tigers outfit threatened to give new captain Maisy Gibson the perfect start to her leadership career before going down by four wickets at the WACA.
With Sara Kennedy, Ella Hayward and Kate Pelle all making their state debuts, it was veteran Lizelle Lee who launched Tasmania’s innings in style after Gibson won the toss and elected to bat.
Lee cracked 10 boundaries in a 42-ball 50, giving the visitors a lightning start before Strange (5-49) turned the content on its head in the 13th over.
Strange – who joined WA from Queensland in the off-season – bowled Lee and Hayward in consecutive deliveries, before Nicola Carey (eight) spooned a leading edge back to the bowler as the Tigers lost three wickets in the over.
Four balls later Naomi Stalenberg was stumped by Mooney off Amy Edgar, and shortly after Tasmania had slumped to 7-93.
But a career-best knock from Tabatha Saville (79 from 86 balls) along with valuable lower order contributions from Lauren Smith (27) and Gibson (25), helped the visitors recover to post a defendable 232.
Carey then gave the Tigers the perfect start with the ball, bowling Chloe Piparo with the second delivery of Western Australia’s innings, before the hosts were reduced to 3-20 in the fourth over.
From there, Mooney took control of the chase.
The Australian star showcased all her class with an unbeaten 117 from just from 94 balls, striking 15 boundaries and a pair of sixes.
She shared a 96-run stand with Bhavi Devchand (37), but when Devchand was caught behind off the crafty Lauren Smith (3-37), the door opened for Tasmania.
Two more quick wickets saw the hosts slip to 6-128 and suddenly gave the Tigers hope of an unlikely victory.
However Mooney found another willing ally in Alana King, who crafted her own unbeaten 55 from 58 balls as the pair guided WA home with nearly 15 overs to spare
“Bittersweet that one, I feel like we fought back with the bat really well and I think we came together in the innings break and really had a clear plan,” Saville said.
“Beth Mooney did what Beth Mooney does and I thought Kingy’s cameo there was elite. They set the tempo and showed us how to bat on the WACA.
“It isn’t anything to be discouraged by, we do have a young squad and we go again [on Thursday].”
Saville said the Tigers would take plenty from watching one of the world’s best construct an innings when the two sides meet again on Thursday.
“For us it is having a clear plan, as a batting unit we saw how Beth went about it. It’s really good batting conditions and you get really good value for runs so we will just tweak some things in and around that.”