'A weight lifted off our shoulders': Meteors snap 11-month drought

The ACT Meteors claimed their first win since last February to avoid a winless season with a four-wicket victory over NSW at Phillip Oval on Tuesday.

The Meteors were on the verge of the worst season in WNCL history when they arrived on Tuesday morning, boasting an 0-10 record with just two games remaining.

Rival states have endured winless campaigns before - but each of those seasons were shorter than the current WNCL format.

Enter Katie Mack [74 from 86] and Bates [66 from 71], who laid the platform for a drought-breaking victory to help the ACT fight off a piece of unwanted history.

Mack's scintillating knock came 12 days after she put Australian selectors on notice with an unbeaten 140 against Victoria, while Bates could hardly have picked a better time for a breakthrough half-century after being promoted to No.4.

"It's amazing. We work so hard, incredibly hard. You could probably see it in the bunker just over there, how much it actually meant to us," Bates said.

"We work incredibly hard. It's just a weight lifted off our shoulders there. The girls did really well. We set the tone with the ball in the first 10 which led to a really good chase from us."

Angie Genford hit the winning runs with 23 balls remaining, as the ACT finished on 6-244 in reply to NSW's 243. Claire Moore top scored with 61 for the visitors, while Carly Leeson's 3-32 from 10 overs made her the pick of the ACT bowling attack.

"We showed a lot of character to take it as deep as we did there. Lauren Cheatle was outstanding with the ball and she kept clawing it back and fighting for us," NSW captain Georgia Adams said.

"Every time we seemed to get up and get ahead, we let it slip a little bit too much."

The Meteors are destined to finish last - even a clean sweep this week won't save them from a second consecutive wooden spoon - but they are determined to finish with a bang when they end their season against NSW on Thursday.