Sthalekar leads Breakers to ninth title

New South Wales Women 7 for 206 (Sthalekar 83, K Blackwell 57*, Smith 3-25) beat Victoria Women 7 for 205 (Jones 39, Edwards 38) by 3 wickets
Scorecard

Lisa Sthalekar and Kate Blackwell guided New South Wales Breakers to their ninth title in 11 years as the Breakers chased down Victoria Spirit's 205 at Melbourne. Sthalekar, the captain, starred with 83 and Blackwell made an unbeaten 57 to earn New South Wales a 2-1 victory in the finals series and continue the team's decade of dominance.

The visitors were on track to rein in the target easily at 2 for 167 in the 41st over before Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Clea Smith sparked a mini-collapse of 5 for 20 within 23 balls to give Victoria hope. But Blackwell held firm as Smith and Fitzpatrick bowled out their ten overs and Victoria could not find the last few wickets.

Fitzpatrick took 3 for 33 and finished with 13 dismissals from the three-matches, but the decider was all but wrenched out of Victoria's grip by Sthalekar. Having struggled in the first two finals, Sthalekar stepped up to score 83 from 98 deliveries and her 115-run partnership with Blackwell set up the win.

Mel Jones top-scored for the home side with 39 and the Spirit would have fancied their chances when they posted a challenging 7 for 205, but for the third time in a row the team batting second chased successfully. New South Wales, who scraped into the finals ahead of Queensland, completed an impressive turnaround after a poor start to earn back-to-back titles.