South Australia have barely missed out on playing the WNCL final after going down to Western Australia today.
The second match of the away fixture for South Australia, had the visitors fall short by 6 runs, with the team unable to replicate their 47-run victory on Wednesday.
The first of the two matches was all about the return of Jemma Barsby. The star all-rounder returned to the captaincy and continued her fine form with both bat and ball, as she hit an unbeaten 58 runs and snatched 3 wickets to open the innings for her team.
Part of an unbroken 50-run stand for the final wicket, Barsby showed her class, as herself and Brown propelled the team score to 287.
Barsby followed her player of the match performance with 2 more wickets and 54* runs today but was unfortunately unable to see the 254-run chase home.
Alongside her return captain, Bridget Patterson was a star highlight across the 2 fixtures, as she hit an excellent 65 and 43. In the 1st match, Patterson partnered with Ellie Johnston for an innings saving 76-run partnership, with Johnston showing her strength with a quick-fire 50.
The innings afforded Johnston the opportunity to open the batting in the second match, a promotion that saw a continuation of her Wednesday efforts, swinging hard for 23.
Courtney Webb (31) and Amanda-Jade Wellington (22) both continued to show their promise with the bat, with their contributions helping place the visitors into pole position in Wednesday's fixture. Wellington's 2 wickets today brought up her 150th WNCL wicket.
Wednesday's game had the South Australian bowling line-up making sure that the total was enough, with wickets shared. On her return from international duties, Darcie Brown snatched the important wicket of Carmichael, shutting down any hope that WA had in threatening the total.
Today's close loss means that South Australia have played their final match of the 2024/25 WNCL season, with Wellington (29) finishing as our leading wicket taker and Webb (572) our leading run-scorer.