Reflections on Tasmanian Tigers' dramatic WNCL final victory

So it was on a rainy Hobart night which could lay genuine claim not just to one of the most exciting finishes to any cricket contest but, arguably, the best over in the history of the sport.

A big call maybe, and doubtless in cricket's 300-year existence, there has been an over with six wickets rather than the paltry five conjured up at Bellerive Oval, but it is highly unlikely that it came at the climax of a season-long national competition to produce a one-run win.

The six balls Sarah Coyte bowled in the Women's National Cricket League final shortly before 10pm on Saturday have since achieved global acclaim via social media, but to focus entirely on them would be unfair to the remainder of a fascinating but delightfully frustrating encounter.

Even a team called the Scorpions could not have expected a sting in the tail like this. Unfortunately for South Australia, they were the ones being stung as Tasmania produced an ending every bit as painful and traumatic as a close encounter with a predatory arachnid with a big pair of pincers.

Up to that point the destiny of the trophy teetered precariously somewhere between Hobart and Adelaide - probably around King Island or Warrnambool.

South Launceston's Courtney Webb, the Hobart weather and the Duckworth-Lewis method seemed hell-bent on conspiring against the table-topping reigning champion Tigers.

As intermittent rain caused a succession of breaks in play, South Australia's total fluctuated either side of, and sometimes in unison with, the D-L par score.

The teams produced uncannily similar innings which featured batting performances ranging from mature to mindless before getting bowled out off their final delivery.

For the Tigers, Elyse Villani (110), Naomi Stalenberg (75) and Lizelle Lee (48) preceded a collapse of 7-20.

The Scorpions responded with the 134-run partnership of Webb (83) and Emma de Broughe (68) and that final-over brain-fade of 5-2.

With South Australia chasing a victory target of 265, 20 overs were required for a D-L result. The rain came after 19.

The Scorpions remained marginally behind until the 43rd over when Molly Strano was hit for 21 runs, having conceded just 26 in her previous nine.

The rain returned. South Australia were at 5-220. The D-L par score was 215. If it didn't stop raining, Tasmania had lost.

The scorers reported that there were 22 minutes of the match left. Eight hours after it had begun in 32 degrees, all eyes were again on the skies and Villani was stubbornly persisting with the floppy hat.

The rain stopped, the players returned and the Scorpions set 23 runs off 18 balls for victory.

The first two overs went for 19 runs but the disappointingly small crowd were about to discover how a team could go into a final over with five wickets in the shed and get bowled out.

To this point, Coyte had not been a major player in proceedings. And yet six balls later she would be named player of the match.

Dismissed for a golden duck, the WNCL's leading wicket-taker was not called upon to bowl until the 21st over and had dropped a tough chance offered by de Broughe shortly after.

But she did take the catch that eventually dismissed the opener and single-handedly sent Webb packing with eight overs left.

What happened next would later be described in Cricket Australia's match report as "a self-destructive implosion of a previously unimaginable proportion".

46.1 WICKET: Annie O'Neil b Coyte 28 (20), missing a length delivery.

46.2 1 RUN: Amanda-Jade Wellington takes a single to short third-man.

46.3 WICKET: Barsby st Emma Manix-Geeves b Coyte 28 (17), the Riverside wicket-keeper making amends for a disappointing game (her words) with a superb piece of glovework.

46.4 WICKET: Wellington run out (Coyte) 1 (1) deflecting Ella Wilson's drive onto the non-striker's stumps.

46.5 WICKET: Wilson lbw Coyte 0 (2), trapped in front missing a pull shot - the appeal from Manix-Geeves audible from Windsor Park.

46.6 1 RUN and WICKET: Anesu Mushangwe run out (Villani) 1 (1) on her 27th birthday.

Compilations of the final over were soon being enjoyed the world over. Well, except maybe in Adelaide.

Coleman commented: "It'll make highlights reels, it might even make ESPN." ESPN tweeted: "Have you ever seen anything like it?" So Coleman was right.

Coyte's post-match interview began with the same words uttered by Alex Ferguson after his Manchester United team scored twice in stoppage time to defeat Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final: "Bloody hell."

Debate swiftly began as to where the match rated in cricket history with comparisons made to the 2011-12 men's one-day final - ironically, between the same two states - in which James Faulkner could only tie the scores off the final delivery leaving South Australia to win on a superior ladder position.

Having been fortunate enough to have attended both matches, I'm in no doubt. The men's version isn't even in the same league.

This was indeed unprecedented, intoxicating and all the evidence needed to never stop watching sport.

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