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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Jonathan Howcroft

Sportwatch: Demons and Magpies win big in AFLW, build-up to the T20 World Cup final, and more

Kate Hore
Kate Hore competes for the ball during the round five AFLW match between the Melbourne Demons and the West Coast Eagles at Casey Fields. Photograph: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Summary

Thank you very much for your company today. Big wins for Collingwood and Melbourne in the AFLW, and plenty of excitement building for what promises to be a record breaking night at the MCG.

For more on that, and all your Women’s T20 World Cup final needs, I’ll handball you to Adam Collins, right over here:

A-League: HT: CCM 0-2 Wellington - The Phoenix are heading into second place on the A-League ladder after exploiting Central Coast’s defensive frailties in Gosford. In open play the game has been even, with the Mariners fashioning a few decent opportunities of their own, but when Wellington have gone forward they’ve done so with purpose and no little class.

AFLW: Melbourne 10.6 (66) v 1.1 (7) West Coast

No surprise at Casey Fields as the Demons continue their impressive season, thumping the last-placed Eagles in a handy percentage booster. Melbourne will likely end the round second in Conference B, but if Brisbane do them a favour away to Fremantle later on they could finish top.

Karen Paxman was the leading ball-winner while eight Demons split the big sticks, including Sarah Perkins who kicked a goal on debut after the siren.

A-League: 30 mins: CCM 0-2 Wellington (GOAL! Hooper) - Dreadful defending from the Mariners - caught square as the onrushing Hooper timed his run to perfection, latching onto a well-weighted Piscopo through-ball over the back-three - and the Nix are two goals to the good.

Updated

AFLW: 3QT: Melbourne 8.3 (51) v 1.1 (7) West Coast - Put a fork in this one. A five-goal quarter to the Dees will see them home against the Eagles and give them a handy leg up in Conference B.

A-League: 22 mins: CCM 0-1 Wellington - Shortly after the goal the Mariners have a decent penalty shout turned down, one of those destined to remain with the onfield referee one way or the other based on the VAR guidelines. As it is the Mariners continue their ugly run of form.

A-League: 17 mins: CCM 0-1 Wellington (GOAL! Cacace) - Pretty much their first meaningful attack of the game ends in a goal for the Phoenix. It was a glorious move, beginning with Piscopo wriggling free on the right hand side before Davila weighted a perfect through-ball for the onrushing Cacace to guide a calm finish beyond Birighitti.

A-League: 10 mins: CCM 0-0 Wellington: Not much to write home about in the early exchanges at Gosford, but if you’ve just tuned in be warned that the team normally in all yellow are wearing all black, and the team normally decked out in black on away trips are in all yellow. Welcome to the A-League.

AFLW: Q3: 10 mins remaining: Melbourne 5.1 (31) v 1.1 (7) West Coast - Playing with the wind it’s been all Melbourne since half-time and they’ve kicked two goals in quicktime to surge to a commanding lead.

A-League: We have just kicked-off in Gosford where Wellington are hot favourites to continue their good run of form away to cellar dwellers Central Coast Mariners.

AFLW: HT: Melbourne 3.0 (18) v 1.1 (7) West Coast - With the wind at their backs the Eagles stormed their way back into the contest until the Demons snapped the momentum late in the half when Sarah Lampard finished off a nice move down the right flank. A real arm-wrestle of a quarter at Casey Fields.

Cricket: A rundown of the state of play on day three of the latest round of Sheffield Shield fixtures.

  • Tasmania (270 & 61-0) require 67 to beat NSW (195 & 203) in Hobart. Nathan Ellis’s nine-wickets for the match have put Tasmania in a commanding position on day three at Blundstone Arena. They are on course for a mighty upset victory inside three days.
  • Victoria (292 & 299-5) v South Australia (214) in Adelaide. The Vics are pushing towards a declaration and a day four dart for victory at Adelaide Oval. Travis Dean missed out on a second-innings ton, falling for 92.
  • WA (277) v Queensland (425-6) in Perth. A brisk unbeaten 79 from Jack Wildermuth has opened the door for the Bulls in a match that looked to be destined for a draw.

A reminder that NSW are flying high on top of the ladder with six wins, Queensland are in second with four, then it’s a four-way scrap with the stragglers all sharing two apiece.

AFLW: Q2: 13 mins remaining: Melbourne 2.0 (12) v 1.0 (6) West Coast - The Eagles have come out firing in the second quarter, with the wind at their backs, and they’re rewarded with a bomb from Maddy Collier.

AFLW: QT: Melbourne 2.0 (12) v 0.0 (0) West Coast - It’s all going according to script at Casey Fields with Melbourne scoring two unanswered goals in the opening quarter. The second of which went to Dubliner Niamh McEvoy after good work from fellow import Sinead Goldrick.

AFLW: Q1: 10 mins remaining: Melbourne 1.0 (6) v 0.0 (0) West Coast - It didn’t take long for the in-form Eden Zanker to get the Demons on the scoreboard at a gusty Casey Fields.

AFLW: Time for our second AFLW contest of the day with Melbourne welcoming West Coast to Casey Fields. The Eagles arrived rooted to the foot of Conference B. By contrast, the Demons sit third, with a win all-but guaranteeing them second place, with a healthy victory putting them in with a chance of top spot by the end of the round.

AFLW: Collingwood 8.5 (53) beat Western Bulldogs 3.3 (21)

Kirsten McLeod’s goal midway through the final quarter threatened to set up a grandstand finish but it was in vain as the Bulldogs’ season ended limply at a windswept Morwell. They now have just one win from five matches and are well off the pace of the top four in Conference B.

That leading quartet includes the Magpies, who snapped a two-game losing streak, to join Melbourne on three wins, a game behind Carlton and Fremantle. Chloe Molloy starred with 3.2 in difficult goal-kicking conditions while Brianna Davey’s 30 disposals was far and away the best on ground.

AFLW: 3QT: Collingwood 6.3 (39) v 2.3 (15) Western Bulldogs - The Doggies are scrapping hard in Morwell and they enjoyed their best quarter of the match but remain a long way behind Collingwood heading into the final break.

Brianna Davey and Jaimee Lambert are dominating the ball for the Magpies while Chloe Molloy still leads the way on the scoreboard with her 2.2.

Cricket:

AFLW: Q3: 6 mins remaining: Collingwood 6.3 (39) v 1.3 (9) Western Bulldogs - Kirsty Lamb has kicked the first goal of the day for the Doggies but it’s barely made a dent in the deficit with the Pies on course for their first win in three games.

AFLW: In conjunction with International Women’s Day, this month is Endometriosis Awareness Month. The purpose is to spread awareness about an incredibly painful and debilitating disease that affects about 800,000 women in Australia (Endometriosis was the most Googled word in 2018, and yet it currently takes seven-10 years to get a diagnosis).

Next Friday’s contest between Geelong and North Melbourne is Shining a Light on Endo night at Kardinia Park.

Cricket: A rundown of the state of play in the Sheffield Shield.

  • Tasmania (270 & 0-0) require 128 to beat NSW (195 & 203) in Hobart. Nathan Ellis’s nine-wickets for the match have put Tasmania in a commanding position on day three at Blundstone Arena.
  • Victoria (292 & 158-1) v South Australia (214) in Adelaide. Travis Dean is nearing a century as the Vics push towards a declaration and a day four dart for victory at Adelaide Oval.
  • WA (277) v Queensland (317-5) in Perth. We’re heading for a draw at the WACA Ground unless the visiting lower order can get a wriggle on and increase Queensland’s lead with enough time to dismiss Western Australia for a second time.

A reminder that NSW are flying high on top of the ladder with six wins, Queensland are in second with four, then it’s a four-way scrap with the stragglers all sharing two apiece.

AFL: Richmond’s Sydney Stack just held onto an excellent mark in his preseason run-out against GWS. Recorded with typical understatement, of course.

AFLW: HT: Collingwood 4.2 (26) v 0.2 (2) Western Bulldogs - That two-goal wind didn’t blow hard enough for the Bulldogs in the second quarter as Collingwood reinforced their ascendancy in Morwell. The Doggies are facing a long 2021 preseason if they can’t turn things around after half-time.

AFLW: Q2: 6 mins remaining: Collingwood 3.2 (20) v 0.2 (2) Western Bulldogs - The game is more on the Bulldogs’ terms this quarter but that has yet to translate on the scoreboard where the Pies remain in control. Molloy remains the contest’s defining figure, tormenting the Doggies overhead and at ground level.

Golf: Marc Leishman is in contention for the Arnold Palmer Invitational after conditions became near unplayable during the third round at Bay Hill. How tough were they? Brooks Koepka fired an 81.

Tennis: No Nick Kyrgios, no Alex de Minaur, no problems for Australia’s Davis Cup squad.

AFLW: QT: Collingwood 3.0 (18) v 0.1 (1) Western Bulldogs - Six disposals, four marks, two goals - not a bad quarter’s work for Chloe Molloy who has managed the blustery and rainy conditions in Morwell to lead Collingwood to a convincing early lead. A bit like a Test match that can’t be judged properly until both sides have batted at least once on a questionable pitch, let’s see what the Bulldogs can do with the wind at their backs after a Gatorade break.

Cricket: The Australian men’s team will be delighted their female counterparts are hogging the limelight because they have just completed a dismal ODI series away to South Africa that has ended in a 3-0 whitewash defeat.

AFLW: Q1 11 mins remaining: Collingwood 1.0 (6) v 0.0 (0) Western Bulldogs - With the Magpies playing with what Leigh Montagna has suggested is a “two-goal wind” at their back, Chloe Molloy has booted - or perhaps that should be socked - the opening goal of the game. Molloy burst free of the last defender but turned into Cinderella and lost her slipper in the process, slamming home from point blank range with just a black stocking for protection.

Cricket: We should all strive to think more like Geoff.

AFLW: A vital AFLW clash between Collingwood and Western Bulldogs is about to get underway at a blustery Morwell in eastern Victoria. It’s fourth v fifth in Conference B and the loser can probably write off their chances of any finals football for 2020.

Megan Maurice has put into context what tonight’s T20 World Cup final means for women’s sport and Australian cricket in particular.

But what we have witnessed with this Australia women’s team over the past five years has been even bigger than that. The momentum around the team has grown and crowds and television audiences have expanded alongside it.

It happened slowly enough that it almost wasn’t noticeable. A reference to ‘batters’ instead of ‘batsmen’ here. An understanding that ‘Healy’ means Alyssa and not Ian there. And before we knew it, people were standing around office kitchens having long conversations about Ellyse Perry’s hamstring and furious debates about whether she should be replaced by an all-rounder or a specialist bowler.

Preamble

Hello everybody and welcome to another Sunday Sportwatch.

Today’s action is spread a little thinner than usual with the agenda pointing directly towards the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup from 6pm. We’ll be launching a special liveblog for that from 5pm, but before then...

AFLW can take centre stage with Collingwood hosting the Bulldogs at 1.10pm followed by West Coast’s visit to Melbourne at 3.10pm.

We’ve also got one A-League fixture kicking-off at 4pm between Central Coast and Wellington.

After that we’ll flick over to the cricket, and hopefully witness the breaking of the record for the highest attendance ever at a women’s sporting event - on International Women’s Day, no less.

Comments are open below the line, or you can get in touch by email: jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com or Twitter: @JPHowcroft.

Who runs the world? Meg Lanning.
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