Tasmania 249 for 4 (Carey 111*, Graham 63, Voll 3-56) beat Queensland 248 for 7 (Knott 73, Graham 3-39) by six wickets
Chasing 249, Carey hit a composed 111 from 135 balls to control the hosts innings and get them home with 14 balls to spare at Blundstone Arena.
Perennial battlers in the 50-over competition for their first 10 seasons after joining in 2010-11, Tasmania only won their first title in 2022 before backing it up with two more.
Queensland briefly had a sniff when Graham was bowled trying to reverse sweep Georgia Voll, before Naomi Stalenberg was caught three balls later for a duck. At that point Tasmania needed 67 runs from 68 balls with six wickets in hand, but Carey and Emma Manix-Geeves ensured there would be no late jitters.
“I’m relieved, that was stressful,” Carey said. “I felt scratchy but Heather and EMG made my life so much easier. I love batting with Heather, it’s always good fun. She makes it look really easy and I make it look harder.”
Earlier, Graham also took 3 for 39 with the ball to stop any hope of Queensland setting an unattainable target. With Queesland 115 for 2 in the 28th over, Graham got a ball to skid on and bowl Lauren Winfield-Hill for 28. She then had Mikayla Hinkley lbw on 33, before bowling a hard-hitting Knott for 73 late in the innings to keep Queensland to 248 for 7.
Tasmania’s victory makes them the second state to achieve a hat-trick of titles in the WNCL, with NSW having at one stage won 10 straight between 2005-06 and 2014-15.
