Tigers defend T20 crown at Cricket Central

_{Sydney celebrate with the Kingsgrove Sports T20 Cup trophy // Ian Bird}

The Tigers took down Northern District in their early-afternoon semi-final clash, winning by 72 runs to book their place in the final. While Campbelltown Camden defeated St George-Sutherland by 9 wickets in the preceding semi-final to also qualify for the decider.

SO, the Tigers and Ghosts came face to face for the first piece of women's NSW Premier Cricket silverware of the season.

Sydney skipper, Kira Churchland, won the toss and opted to bat first, and after a few overs, found her side four wickets down for not many as Sarah Coyte and Lauren Cheatle picked up early poles for the Ghosts.

Olivia Maxwell anchored the ship for Sydney, delivering a pivotal 37-run innings. However, her knock came to an end when Coyte and Ghosts' wicketkeeper, Paris Bowdler, combined for a successful stumping.

The Tigers managed 8/107 from their 20 overs.

Churchland's decision to bat first proved worthwhile, as scoreboard pressure began to exert its influence on the Ghosts' top order.

Nell Bryson-Smith capitalised, collecting the wickets of four of Campbelltown Camden’s top five in quick succession, including the dangerous Anika Learoyd, to pin the Ghosts at 5-26.

A late flurry of boundaries from Cheatle (36) were met with regular dismissals and the Tigers stormed home to claim a 21-run victory and retain the women’s first-grade T20 trophy.

Nell Bryson-Smith was awarded the Player of the Final medal for her match-winning spell of 4-14.

_{Sydney's Nell Bryson-Smith was named Player of the Final // Ian Bird}

Score Wrap-Up

Semi Final 1 – 9:00am

St George-Sutherland v Campbelltown Camden

St George-Sutherland 5/117 (T Wilson 55, K Baldwin 3-30) def by Campbelltown Camden 1/119 (A Learoyd 90*).

Semi Final 2 – 12:15pm

Northern District v Sydney

Sydney 6/146 (G Plummer 42*, J Galeano 2-37) def Northern District 10/74 (A Taylor 16, S Dimeglio 3-11)

Final – 3:45pm

Sydney v Campbelltown Camden

Sydney 8/107 (O Maxwell 37, S Coyte 3-12) def Campbelltown Camden 10/86 (L Cheatle 36, N Bryson-Smith 4-14)

Player of the Final: Nell Bryson-Smith (Sydney) 4-14 from four overs.

Full scorecards can be accessed – CLICK HERE

Cricket NSW would like to thank Kingsgrove Sports for sponsoring the women’s first-grade T20 competition.

For the first time in the competition’s history, the winning side received $6,000 in prize money.