Western Australia suffered one of the worst batting collapses ever witnessed in professional cricket during their remarkable One-Day Cup defeat to the Tasmanian Tigers.
The defending champions slumped from 52-2 to 53 all out at the WACA Ground on Friday, with eight wickets falling for one run – which was a wide – in just 28 legal deliveries to see them dismissed in 20.1 overs.
Six players fell for ducks, everyone batting from fifth to tenth in the line-up, with Tasmanian bowlers Beau Webster (6-17) and Billy Stanlake (3-12) impressing to see Western Australia dismissed for the second-lowest score in the tournament’s history.
Tasmanian Tigers needed just 8.3 overs to chase down their victory target, with Mitch Owen top-scoring with 29 and Matthew Wade firing an unbeaten 21 from 13 deliveries to ease them to their first win of the tournament.
The Western Australia team contained 11 players who have all represented Australia at international level, with the hosts 52-2 in the 16th over when Webster’s dismissal of Cameron Bancroft (14) sparked a flurry of wickets.
He also trapped captain Ashton Turner lbw two balls later and Josh Inglis (one) was bowled by Stanlake’s opening delivery of the next over, with Hilton Cartwright then falling for a fourth wicket in seven balls.
Webster dismissed Cooper Connolly in his next over before claiming Jhye Richardson and Joel Paris with successive balls in the 20th, with Ashton Agar dismissed for a nine-ball duck by Stanlake to complete the rapid collapse.
Opener D’Arcy Short’s 22 was one of only two double-digit scores posted by Western Australia, who have only won one of their first four matches and are struggling in their bid to win the One-Day Cup for the fourth consecutive season.
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