VicSpirit in a canter
Meg Lanning fifth half-century of the season has helped Commonwealth Bank VicSpirit record a emphatic ten-wicket win over Tasmanian Roar in their WT20 match played at Camberwell Sports Ground.
In a match that mirrored Friday's result, Player of the Match Lanning (51* from 36) and Jess Cameron (31 from 20) made light work of Tasmanian's total of 98, bringing up the winning runs with 37 balls remaining.
The only downside to the match was a hamstring injury suffered by opening batter Elyse Villani.
Earlier, VicSpirit captain Emma Inglis won the toss and sent Tasmania in to bat on a pitch that suited the batters.
With the commencement of the match being delayed 15 minutes, the game was shortened to 18 overs each.
Clea Smith made the perfect start when she dismissed Erin Burns second ball of the match with a spearing yorker.
With Julie Hunter (1-11) and Smith (1-15) keeping it tight in the first six overs, the Roar batters struggled to fine the boundary early but then the partnership between Carly Ryan (41*) and Julia Price (31) developed.
The pair added 82 runs in 86 deliveries before Price was run-out trying to take on Hunter's arm.
After that wicket, the Victorian bowlers reined in the run-rate with English international Danni Wyatt (1-14) showing her T20 experience, bowling four overs as the Roar finished with 4-98.
For the first time this season, the VicSpirit batters Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani put together a sizable opening partnership.
Villani's time in the middle was cut short when she sustained a hamstring injury running a quick single.
Just as she has done all year, Lanning looked a class above the opposition, striking eight boundaries in her 36-ball innings.
Victorian captain Emma Inglis was pleased with her team's even performance.
"We bowled to our plans today and restricted Tasmania to under 100 like we aimed," Inglis said.
"It was great to see Danni bowl well...she was getting a lot of turn and mixed up her pace which kept the batters guessing.
The VicSpirit will have to find a replacement for Villani at the top of the order before next week's crunch game against NSW.
"At this early stage it looks like she could be missing for four-five weeks but she will have scans during the week to get confirmation," Inglis said.
The Commonwealth Bank VicSpirit will face their biggest test of the season when they face NSW Breakers in Sydney next weekend.
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