TASMANIA has extinguished Victoria’s faint WNCL Final hopes and booked hosting duties for itself after defeating the hosts by seven wickets yesterday.

After Victoria made 5/255 from its 50 overs, Tasmania reached the target with 38 balls to spare.

The way to characterise much of Victoria’s innings was that it was slow and steady. The wickets did not really start tumbling until late in the innings, but Victoria was still batting at a very conservative pace, which ultimately came back to hurt later.

Victoria’s middle order did really save the day for the hosts though, picking up the pace a little to ensure the team could put an at least somewhat competitive total on the board.

Tess Flintoff struck four fours on her way to 60, Georgia Prestwidge struck five fours and a six on her way to 56 not out while Ella Hayward also made a solid 40.

On the flipside of the equation it was Lauren Smith who was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with two wickets to her name, while Nicola Carey, Heather Graham and Maisy Gibson picked up one each.

In reply the Tasmanians made a pretty solid start to their chase, going at about six runs an over before losing their first wicket. However, they then lost their next wicket three and a half overs later for only 13 runs, and things were starting to look good for the Victorians.

However, things then swung in Tasmania’s favour when Graham and Carey got to work and put on a 169-run partnership to firmly plant the momentum of the game in the hands of the reigning champions.

Once Graham was dismissed to end that partnership there was not too much left for Carey and Naomi Stalenberg to do, with the pair helping the visitors reach the target in the 44th over.

Graham was the true star with the bat for Tasmania, smashing 15 fours and two sixes on her way to 105. Carey also had a solid day at the crease, hitting five fours of her own on the way to 75 not out.

Meanwhile the three wickets Tasmania did lose were all claimed by different bowlers, with Prestwidge, Hayward and Milly Illingworth all striking.