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Emma King, Nicole Bolton shine as Western Australia finish WNCL season on a high

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Women's CricZone Staff
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Emma King, Nicole Bolton shine as Western Australia finish WNCL season on a high

Emma King of Western Australia celebrates after taking a wicket with her teammates. © Getty

An unbeaten century from Nicole Bolton and a three-fer from Emma King, who played her last match as a professional cricketer, helped Western Australia finish their Women's National Cricket League 2020-21 campaign with an eight-wicket win against Victoria on Saturday(March 20). It is the second consecutive defeat for Victoria this season. 

Chasing close to four runs an over, WA lost both their openers Chloe Piparo and Ashley Day, early. While the former got out to Courtney Neale for a 19-ball seven, Day was trapped on the pads by Kim Garth after making three from eight balls. They were stuttering at 13 for two. 

Joined by Mathilda Carmichael, Bolton tried to build a partnership. They kept the scoreboard moving with brisk strike rotation and occasional boundaries. In the next 15 overs, they added 77 runs without losing further wickets.

Once settled, they launched a counterattack on the Victoria bowlers. They were smart with their shot-selection and was happy to put the bad balls away with ease. In the process, both of them brought up their half-centuries. 

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Bolton was the aggressor in the partnership, and as they neared the target, she cruised towards her ninth WNCL century in 105 balls. They eventually crossed the line in 39.4 overs. Carmichael scored 79 from 106 balls.

Earlier, opting to bat, the Victoria side without their international stars got off to a bad start. Though Elyse Villani stood ground, they lost Makinley Blows, Amy Vine, Bhavisha Devchand and Garth in quick succession. They were reduced to 79 for four. Villani scored a fighting 41 from 65 balls before getting out to Alana King.

Nicole Faltum and Tess Flintoff had to resurrect the Victoria innings from the lower-middle order. They added 41 runs together before Flintoff got out. With Lucy Cripps, Faltum added another 29 runs before she was dismissed by Emma for 39 runs from 51 balls. 

Some handy runs from Cripps and Sophie Day helped Victoria get past the 200-run mark. They both remained not out till the end as Vitoria finished with 203 for eight in 50 overs. Emma, in her final appearance for WA, picked up three crucial wickets, giving away just 37 runs in her ten overs. 

Brief Scores:

Victoria 203/8 in 50 overs (Ellyse Villani 41; Emma King 3/37) lost to Western Australia (Nicole Bolton 100; Kim Garth 1/39) by eight wickets.
Nicole Bolton Elyse Villani Victoria WNCL emma king Western Australia WNCL 2021
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