Victoria breezes into Final

In a re-match of last year’s encounter, Victoria will be desperate to turn the tables on its arch-nemesis, in a bid to claim its first Christina Matthews Shield since 2009-10.

During yesterday’s final pool match, Victoria put the finishing touches on an unbeaten qualifying campaign with a 104-run victory against ACT thanks to a five-wicket haul that included a hat-trick from North West Wizards’ Jess Karamoshou.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Victoria suffered an early setback as they lost skipper Annabel Martin for two.

A 62-run partnership between Zoe Griffiths (39) and Melina Ayres (79) steadied proceedings as the pair traded in boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

The middle order then capitalised on its spectacular start with Georgie Wareham (29), Madeline Wright (22) and Sophie Van De Heuvel (10) helping the Victorians post a respectable total of 4-202.

Requiring a run rate of more than five per over, ACT began well as Victoria was unable to capitalize with the new ball until Wareham (3-32) bowled skipper Alana Ryan (24) to end a 46-run opening stand.

“It was a bit ugly in the first 10 to 15 overs,” Victorian coach John Hayes said.

“ACT were quite good early and put us under pressure.”

The initial breakthrough opened the floodgates, however, as the ACT lost 9-52 to be routed for just 98.

Tayla Vlaeminck (2-14) was electric with the ball and in the field as she pocketed two run outs in a solitary over to reduce ACT to 7-84.

With bonus points up for grabs, Victoria bowled on as Karamoshou (5-11) etched her name into Championships’ folklore with a memorable hat-trick as she ripped a leg-spinner to Jaslyn Allnut which hit high on the bat and into the waiting hands of Martin to spark pandemonium.

Hayleigh Brennan claimed 4-19, while Madeleine Wright snared 1-1.

Despite Victoria claiming a six-wicket victory against NSW in the opening round of the tournament, Hayes believes that the defending champions’ 5-1 record indicates that the Final will be a competitive match.

“After their hiccup against us early, they have worked on a few things and it will definitely be a good contest,” Hayes said.

“When they get their opportunity (today) they have to make sure they don’t leave anything out there so that at the end of the game they can walk off the field, win, lose or draw and know that they did everything they could.

“We will be proud of them either way.”

Follow @CVPathway on Twitter for live updates from today’s Final.

To see a full scorecard, click here.