WAR-W vs FAL-W

And that draws the curtains on another thoroughly enjoyable two weeks at the Fairbreak International. We hope you all enjoyed our coverage as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you. That's all we have for now, as I, Pratyush Rohra, sign on behalf of my partners, Arya Sekhar and Soorya Sesha. There's still a lot of cricket coming your way on this Super Sunday. All you have to do is switch tabs to keep up with all the action. Buh-bye for now!

After finishing in last place last season, the Warriors have responded in style to come back as champions in the second edition of the tournament. It has been a memorable turnaround for them and a memorable tournament throughout, with a few highs and lows, but ending with all smiles. That's what it's all about at the end of the day.

Now, it's Sidhu Sriharsha and her side who come up to collect their medals. Let's hear what the winning captain has to say: I'm short of words. It's been an honor leading this team. It's definitely easier to win when you have a side like this. Want to thank the support staff and everyone back home supporting us as well. It's something that I've been talking about for the last two weeks - sticking to the processes. Not once did we talk about winning the tournament. We wanted to stick to the processes and do them right. Kudos to the entire team. It hasn't sunk in yet. It'll probably take the night, but it does feel great.

Suzie Bates comes up and invites her players to receive their runners-up medals. We'll hear from the captain soon. Here's what the captain has to say: (What went wrong today) Hayley Matthews went wrong. It was a brilliant innings from her. We didn't quite respond as we wanted to with the ball. Our fielding was outstanding and we knew chasing wasn't going to be easy. Incredibly proud of the girls. (Belief to chase it) When you've got Athapathtu and Wyatt at the top of the order, you believe you can do anything. They had some quality bowlers and spinners to do the job. It's great to have this lot with the kind of cultures we have. It's been great with everyone mixing and together to come play our cricket.

Hayley Matthews is the Player of the Match. Here is what she has to say: It was really good. To win it, hundred percent it feels great. We didn't have a great tournament last time out and spoke about doing better this time around and going all the way till the end. It's a great group of girls. We've had some additions this year and have been together for two years. So, it's great to get over the line and get the job done.

Chamari Athapaththu is the Player of the Tournament. There was no real doubt about that, really. She ends as the highest run scorer and was also amongst the top leading wicket-takers. 

Warriors won by 23 runs

Hayley Matthews - 123 (52) | Kathryn Bryce - 3/16
Chamari Athapaththu - 29 (17) | Anju Gurung - 2/43

Handshakes all around as we draw the curtains on another successful season of the Fairbreak International. It's the Warriors who take the glory this time, getting over the line in a similar manner as they did in the semi-finals, making it a rather one-sided contest to blow their opponents away.

Much of that was down to Hayley Matthews in the first innings, scoring a blistering century, accompanied by a half-century from Kathryn Bryce. The two led the way with the ball as well, completely dismantling this Falcons' batting unit that saw its wings being clipped, failing to take flight at any stage.

Chamari Athapaththu and Danni Wyatt got off with some intent before the latter threw her wicket away tamely. That opened the gates for the Warriors soon after, with Athapaththu being on the receiving end of a controversial decision. Once those two were dismissed in the powerplay, the game was half-done.

Suzie Bates fought admirably in the middle alongside Theertha Satish but neither of them managed to score at the required run rate. It was a bit of a procession from there on with the rest of the middle order collapsing soon after. The spinners spun a web around the batters in the middle overs with Amanda-Jade Wellington and Esha Oza chipping in, while Jess Kerr and Shamilia Connell did what they had to do.

It was a rather one-sided affair in the final. Not what the neutrals would want, perhaps, but one can take nothing away from the Warriors, who were utterly dominant in their last two games to be deserving champions in this second edition of the tournament. Stick around because we still have the presentations to come.

19.6 Jess Kerr to Mas Elysa, slower full delivery outside off. Elysa bunts it down to long-on for a single. Warriors win by a huge margin of 93 runs and are champions of the Fairbreak International 2023!

19.4 Jess Kerr to Nannapat Koncharoenkai, FOUR! SHOT! Full and outside the off-stump, Nannapat steps down the track and drills her drive through extra cover for a boundary

19.1 Jess Kerr to Mas Elysa, at the back of a length around off-stump. Elysa has a hack across the line and skews a thick inside edge to short fine