Lisa Sthalekar

At the end of the season, Sthalekar was selected in the Australia Under-21 team to play against New Zealand A. In her first match she scored 81 before being run out, but this was not enough to prevent a five-wicket defeat. The New Zealand attacked her bowling during the match, taking 45 runs from her nine overs without losing a wicket. She took one wicket in each of the next two matches as Australia won by ten and nine wickets respectively, before scoring 27—again run out—and taking 3/39 in the fourth match to help secure a 15-run win. She ended the series with 108 runs at 54.00 and six wickets at 22.50 and an economy rate of 3.46.

Australia then hosted England in two Tests in late February. Sthalekar made her debut in the First Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. She is the 143rd woman to play Test cricket for Australia. In a low-scoring match, she bowled 11 overs, taking 1/8 as the tourists made 124 batting first. Her maiden Test wicket was that of English captain Clare Connor, caught by Cathryn Fitzpatrick. Sthalekar was then given the duty of opening the batting alongside captain Belinda Clark. She was not successful as Australia then collapsed to be all out for 78; Sthalekar made six from 14 balls and occupied the crease for 13 minutes before being trapped lbw by Lucy Pearson in her maiden Test innings. After taking 1/16 from 15 overs, removing Claire Taylor caught behind by wicket-keeper Julia Price, and catching Clare Taylor from Fitzpatrick, England was all out for 92. Sthalekar again opened and this time made a duck, batting for 20 balls and 26 minutes without scoring, but Australia managed to reach 5/139 to seal victory. Of the 26 overs she bowled in the match, half were maidens.

A Super Over eventuated, and both teams ended with 2/6 after both suffered run outs in an attempt to secure a seventh run on the final ball. Australia was awarded the match because they had hit more sixes in the match—Jess Cameron scored the solitary six. Sthalekar was named the player of the match.

Sthalekar was consistent with the ball for the Rose Bowl series, which consisted of three matches each in New Zealand and then Australia. She played in all six matches and took two wickets in three of them, and one wicket in each of the remaining fixtures, ending with nine wickets at 18.44 and an economy rate of 2.91. She was less successful with the bat, scoring 67 runs at 13.40 with a best of 35 as Australia won the series 5–1.

The Australians returned home and the WNCL resumed. Sthalekar took 4/32 against Victoria and 3/33 against Queensland setting up three-wicket wins in both cases. New South Wales met Victoria in the finals and Sthalekar was not successful in the three matches, scoring 16, 4 and 5 taking only two wickets in total as the defending champions lost their title 2–1. In the second phases of the WNCL, Sthalekar did not pass 25 and totalled 86 runs in seven matches. She ended the season with 250 runs at 27.77 and 14 wickets at 21.64 at an economy rate of 3.06.

Australia and Sthalekar had more success in the five ODIs. The tourists won the first two matches but the hosts fought back to win the next two. In the deciding match, Sthalekar took 2/54 from her 10 overs and scored 53 as Australia chased down England's 256 with four wickets in hand to seal the series 3–2. Sthalekar had a strong run with the bat, scoring two other scores of 40 or more to end with 140 runs at 28.00. She took six wickets at 25.00 at an economy rate of 4.28.

The domestic competition was followed by two international series against England and New Zealand. Sthalekar made 17 and took 0/19 from three overs as Australia won the T20 international against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the ODIs that followed, drawn 2–2, Sthalekar scored 95 runs at 23.75 and took four wickets at 32.00 at an economy rate of 3.85. Her best performance came in the second match at the MCG, scoring 45 before taking 2/40 in an 84-run win. In the one-off Test at Bowral, Sthalekar scored two in the first innings as Australia made 154 batting first. She then took 3/48 from 28 overs as England ended on 244 all out with a 90-run lead. The tourists had been in a much stronger position at 3/216 before Sthalekar took three wickets in three consecutive overs to trigger the loss of the last seven wickets for 28 runs. She had Claire Taylor caught behind by Leonie Coleman for 79, before bowling wicket-keeper Sarah Taylor in her next over for 19. In the following over, a maiden, she bowled Nicki Shaw for a duck. She was the mainstay of the hosts' second innings of 9/231 declared, making 98. Sthalekar had come to the crease with the score at 2/33, before Karen Rolton was out two balls later to leave the score at 3/34. She and Nitschke then rebuilt the innings, putting on 107 runs in 159 minutes before Nitschke was out for 36. Sthalekar then added a further 57 runs from 21.1 overs with Kate Blackwell before she was dismissed two runs short of her century by Beth Morgan, having batted for 204 balls and almost four hours, hitting 14 fours. Australia then lost wickets steadily to leave England with a target of 142. Sthalekar was relatively expensive, taking 1/49 from 13 overs in the second innings and dismissing Morgan as the tourists reached their target with six wickets in hand.

Sthalekar started with 1/21 from four overs and 23 in a six-wicket win the T20 match. She was prominent as the hosts completed a 5–0 clean sweep of the ODIs. In the first match at Hurstville Oval, she made 73 not out in an eight-wicket win, before setting up the next match at the SCG with an unbeaten 104. She then took 1/15 in an 86-run win. She then helped Australia gain an unassailable lead in the third match, taking 4/20 from ten overs to help seal a 54-run win, having made 11 not out at the death in Australia's innings. Sthalekar took one wicket in each of the last two matches and ended with seven wickets at 17.71 and an economy rate of 3.01. With the bat, she made 208 runs at 104.00.

After the WNCL ended, the Australians headed to New Zealand for the Rose Bowl series. In the second match, Sthalekar made 72 and took 2/40 from her ten overs, but it was not enough to prevent a four-run/three-wicket defeat. This left Australia 2–0 down and she took 3/16 and 2/58 in the next two matches to square the series 2–2. The last match was washed out and Sthalekar ended with 79 runs at 26.33 and seven wickets at 19.28 at an economy rate of 4.15. The teams returned to Australia for the one-off T20 match, and Sthalekar took 2/28 from three overs and then scored 23 not out as Australia won under the Duckworth Lewis method. In two warm-up matches against England and Sri Lanka ahead of the World Cup, Sthalekar made 12 and 19 and totalled 0/23 from nine overs.

After the series, Sthalekar played in the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, starting with five ODIs in Australia. In the first two matches, held at the Adelaide Oval, she took 3/25 and 2/21 from eight and seven overs respectively as the hosts won both matches. The last three matches of the series were held at the Junction Oval. In the third ODI, Sthalekar took 2/19 from eight overs as Australia took a 102-run win and sealed the series. She went wicketless in the fourth match and was rested from the final game. Australia took a 5–0 whitewash. Sthalekar scored 11 runs at 3.66 and took seven wickets at 15.85 and an economy rate of 3.36.

Australia then swept New Zealand 3–0 in the ODIs in New Zealand. In the first match, Sthalekar went wicketless and made a duck but Australia able to scrape home by two wickets. The series then ended with matches on concsecutive days in Invercargill. Sthalekar was attacked on the first day, conceding 41 runs from seven overs without taking a wicket, before scoring 21 not out in a six-wicket win. The final match the next day was Sthalekar's 100th at international level. She celebrated by taking her maiden five-wicket haul in ODIs, claiming 5/35 from eight overs as well as a catch as the hosts were dismissed for 173. She then made an unbeaten 19 and was at the crease when the winning runs were scored, sealing a six-wicket win. Sthalekar ended the series with 40 runs at 40.00 and took five wickets at 24.00 with an economy rate of 4.80.

Originally named Laila at birth, Sthalekar was born in the city of Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Her biological parents, who were unable to support her, placed her at Shreevatsa, an orphanage attached to Pune's Sassoon Hospital. Haren and Sue Sthalekar, Lisa's adoptive parents, were a couple who lived in Michigan, USA. Haren was born in Bombay and Sue to English parents. The Sthalekars had a daughter and were in India visiting Shreevatsa, hoping to adopt a boy to complete the family. Unsuccessful in their search and about to leave Shreevatsa, it was suggested that they meet Laila. Sue fell in love with her big brown eyes and within a short period of time they decided to adopt her. They thus completed the necessary legal formalities and renamed Laila as Lisa. Three weeks after her birth, Sthalekar's family brought her back to the United States. The family travelled onto Kenya for a period for Haren's work as a Christian missionary before eventually settling in Sydney. Lisa Sthalekar visited Shreevatsa on 3 March 2012.

Australia were grouped with defending champions England, South Africa and the West Indies. In the first match against England, Sthalekar dismissed top-scorer Sarah Taylor in the 12th overs, before removing Jenny Gunn and Danielle Hazell in the 14th and 16th overs. This sparked a collapse as England lost their last seven wickets for 29 runs, including their last four without further addition to the total, as England were dismissed with 15 balls unused. In pursuit of 105 for victory, Australia had lost momentum and lost 3/3 in 16 balls before Sthalekar, who had come in at No. 8, was joined at the crease by Alyssa Healy with the score on 7/63 and 42 runs needed from 34 balls. The pair put on 23 from 13 balls to help regain the initiative before Healy was out. Sthalekar was then out for 10 from 11 balls, leaving Australia at 9/97, with eight runs required from the last seven balls. Australia seven runs from the next four balls before Rene Farrell was run out going for the winning run from the third last ball available, leaving the scores tied.

Sthalekar was part of the 2010 World Twenty20 winning team in the West Indies and played in all but one warm-up match. After being rested from the first warm-up match against New Zealand, which Australia lost by 18 runs, Sthalekar played in the last warm-up match against Pakistan. She did not bat as Australia made 5/166 and took 2/19 from three overs as Australian won by 82 runs.

During the 2009 World Cup held in New South Wales and Canberra, Sthalekar was Australia's leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets at 15.69 but struggled with the bat, making 70 runs at 14.00 as Australia lost the third-place playoff to India. In early 2010, Sthalekar took 5/35, he best ODI bowling figures, in her 100th match. Australia defeated New Zealand in all eight ODIs and Sthalekar was prominent with the ball, taking 12 wickets from seven matches.

Sthalekar was selected for Australia's team for the inaugural Women's World Twenty20 held in England in 2009. The Australians hosted New Zealand for a three-match series in tropical Darwin at the beginning of June before the World Cup, and Sthalekar played in all the matches with much success, taking 3/12, 3/11 and 2/25 from four overs in each match, equating to an average of 6.00 and an economy rate of 4.00. She added 34 in the third match to help secure a 32-run win and a 2–1 series result. Arriving in the northern hemisphere she took 3/14 from three overs in the team's only warm-up on English soil, a five-run win against the hosts.

Sthalekar started the 2009–10 WNCL season slowly, going wicketless in two matches against Queensland. She then took three wickets in the two matches against the Australian Capital Territory, coring 48 and taking 2/27 from ten overs in an upset four-wicket defeat to the new team in their debut season. She made 42 in the next match against Victoria, a five-wicket win, before taking 3/26 and making 27 in a 67-run defeat the next day. Sthalekar then peacked during the double-header against Western Australia. In the first match, she made 108 not out as New South Wales amassed 3/303 and took 1/11 as they completed a 127-run win. The next day, she took 4/14 from her ten overs, helping to dismiss Western Australia for 99 and set up a ten-wicket win. New South Wales won eight of their ten round-robin matches and proceeded to the final against Victoria, Sthalekar scored 49 as the defending champions made 9/206. She then bowled only three overs, taking 0/15 as her state completed another WNCL title with a 59-run win, bowling out the Victorians for 147. Sthalekar ended the season with 348 runs at 49.71 and 13 wickets at 18.15 at an economy rate of 3.18.

During the 2009–10 season, there was a full T20 domestic tournament was introduced. In seven matches, Sthalekar scored 33 runs at 8.25 with a best of 20 against the Australian Capital Territory, and took six wickets at 22.33 at an economy rate of 4.78. New South Wales won five of their six matches and met Victoria—the only team to beat them in the round-robin phase—in the final. Sthalekar took 1/25 from four overs and was out for nine as New South Wales were dismissed for 75 and suffered a 52-run defeat.

The 2008–09 Australian season started with a tour by India. At the start of the season, the International Cricket Council introduced player rankings system for women; Sthalekar occupied the No. 1 all-rounder position ahead of Australian teammate Shelley Nitschke.

This trend continued in the Rose Bowl series held in tropical Darwin in July 2007, the middle of the southern hemisphere winter. Sthalekar played in the first three of the five matches, scoring 69 runs at 69.00 and taking one wicket at 74.00 at an economy rate of 4.11. In the T20 match that preceded the series, she took 2/15 from her four overs and was out for three as Australia scraped home by one wicket.

After conceding runs at a high rate in international matches in the past year, Sthalekar started the 2007–08 WNCL season in highly economical fashion. In the first match against South Australia, she bowled four maidens and ended with 2/7 from ten overs, helping to restrict New South Wales' target to 166. She then made 56 to lead her team to a seven-wicket win. The next day she took two catches and bowled six maidens in her 2/9 from ten overs in a 25-run win. In the following double-header she was prominent in consecutive defeats of Victoria. After taking 1/29, she scored an unbeaten 93 to steer New South Wales to a seven-wicket win, and then scored 70 and took 2/50 the next day to help seal a 25-run win. She then took 3/20 in the fifth match against Queensland to help ensure a 66-run win. New South Wales went to win all of their reound-robin matches except the final fixture against Western Australia. They qualified first for the final against South Australia and were awarded the final went rain force the match to be cancelled. Sthalekar ended with 312 runs at 44.57 and 12 wickets at 14.58 at an economy rate of 2.73.

After the World Cup, Australia toured the British Isles and Sthalekar made her maiden ODI century against Ireland. She took seven wickets in the two-Test series against England, and upon returning to Australia, made 72 and took 5/30 in an innings win over India. Sthalekar had a strong 2006–07 international season with the bat, scoring 604 runs at 67.11, passing 40 in 9 of her 12 innings, but struggled with the ball, taking 10 wickets at 41.00. In 2007–08, she missed out on a second Test century, falling for 98 in a one-off match against England. She ended the season with consecutive ODI fifties against New Zealand and won the Belinda Clark Award for both 2007 and 2008. She started the following summer with unbeaten scores of 73 and 104 against India, before taking 4/20 in the next match to help set up a clean sweep of the ODI series.

The following 2006–07 season started with the Rose Bowl series against New Zealand, which the Australians hosted at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. The five ODIs were preceded by a T20 match, in which Sthalekar took 1/26 from her four overs and scored seven in a tied match. She was consistently productive, making 51, 53, 46, 43 and 17 as Australia took a clean sweep of the ODIs, albeit with one-wicket victories in the first two matches. Two of Sthalekar's dismissals came in run outs, and she ended with 210 runs at 42.00. Her bowling was not so effective, yielding three wickets at 46.66 at an economy rate of 3.50.

Sthalekar had another consistent season in the 2006–07 WNCL. Apart from one wicketless game, she took one or two wickets in each of the seven remaining round-robin matches. New South Wales struggled early in the season, narrowly winning the first match by three wickets against Victoria before losing three matches in a row against the same team and Queensland. Sthalekar failed to capitalise on her starts in these matches, making 40, 27, 31 and 0 as her team averaged 177 in the three losses. New South Wales fought back to win their four remaining matches to qualify for the finals; in the last qualifying match, Sthalekar made 92 not out to guide her team to an eight-wicket win and seal their berth in the deciding matches against Victoria. In the first final, Sthalekar took 1/22 and made nine as New South Wales reached their target of 137 with only one wicket in hand. She then scored three and went wicketless as Victoria squared the series with an eight-wicket the next day. In the deciding final, Sthalekar was attacked by the Victorians, conceding 34 runs from seven overs. In the run-chase, she top-scored with 83 as the defending champions prevailed by three wickets to win consecutive titles. Sthalekar ended the series with 11 wickets at 27.36 at an economy rate of 2.95 and 325 runs at 36.11.

Sthalekar ended the series with 394 runs at 98.50, her best batting performance in an international series. In contrast, her bowling was neither penetrative nor economical; she took seven wickets at 37.28 at an economy rate of 5.22. For the whole 2006–07 international season, she had scored 604 runs at 67.11 and taken ten wickets at 40.10.

Sthalekar led New South Wales to five consecutive WNCL titles starting in 2005–06. During this period, she averaged over 40 with the bat and just over 20 with the ball, scoring more than 1400 runs and taking 60 wickets. She reached her maiden WNCL century in 2009–10 having ended unbeaten in the nineties on two occasions in the five-year period.

Before the Australians headed to South Africa for the 2005 World Cup, they had a three-match Rose Bowl series against New Zealand in Perth. Sthalekar played in the first and third matches, both won by Australia, but did not play a prominent part in the victories, scoring 12 runs at 6.00 and taking one wicket at 29.00 from 11 overs.

In the northern hemisphere summer of 2005, Australia toured England. They started with a stopover in Ireland, and only the second of the three ODIs went ahead; the other two matches were washed out by persistent rain. Sthalekar cracked 100 not out, her maiden ODI century, as Australia made 3/295 and took a 240-run win. Australia played two Tests in England. In the First Test at County Ground in Hove, Sussex, Sthalekar batted at No. 4 and made three as Australia collapsed to be 7/115 before recovering to end with 355. Sthalekar then took 3/70 as Australia dismissed the hosts for 273 and took an 82-run lead. She bowled Claire Taylor for 41 before returning late in the innings to remove middle-order batsmen Arran Brindle and Rosalie Birch as England lost their last six wickets for 39 runs.

Sthalekar had another consistent season in the 2005–06 WNCL, taking 14 wickets at 20.92 and an economy rate of 2.81 and scored 264 runs at 33.00 in 11 matches. Her best bowling figures were a 3/15 in the first match against Queensland and she took at least two wickets in each double-header. New South Wales seven of their eight matches to qualify for the final, where they met Queensland. Sthalekar took 0/27 from her ten overs as Queensland were dismissed for 174 and she was unbeaten without scoring when New South Wales reached the target with eight wickets in hand. The next day, she made 53 as New South Wales capitulated to be all out for 154. She took 1/24 from her ten overs, but it was not enough to prevent a three-wicket defeat. In the deciding match, Sthalekar made 39 of 146 all out and took 2/20 from ten overs as New South Wales hung on by two runs to take the WNCL title.

Sthalekar was in good form with the bat at the start of the 2004–05 WNCL. She scored an unbeaten 96 in the second match of the season against Western Australia and in the first four matches had scored 154 runs, being dismissed only twice, one of these times by a run out. She took four wickets in these matches and the season was adjourned for a seven-match ODI tour of her native country India, where the Australians were met by dry spin-friendly surfaces. Sthalekar was prominent with both bat and ball as Australia took the first two matches in Mysore. She had match figures of 34 and 2/31, and 30 and 2/36, bowling ten overs in both matches. The tourists travelled to Mumbai in Sthalekar's home state of Maharashtra, but it was not a successful visit on the field; she was run out for 2 and her 1/19 was not enough to prevent a six-wicket defeat. Australia won the next two matches to seal the series, before the hosts won the remaining dead rubbers. Sthalekar scored 152 runs at 25.33 and took eight wickets at 24.12 and an economy rate of 3.38. Her best score of the series was 43 in the sixth match.

In 2003–04 and the following season, Sthalekar took 14 wickets apiece and reached 250 runs in each season. In internationals, she returned to form with a ball and averaged more than a wicket per ODI. Sthalekar played in each match of Australia's unbeaten 2005 World Cup triumph in South Africa, taking seven wickets in all, and scoring 55 against India in the final.

New South Wales' run of six consecutive WNCL titles came to an end in 2002–03, during which Sthalekar had a mediocre season by her standards, scoring 180 runs at 20.00 and taking eight wickets at 37.37 at an economy rate of 3.35 in ten matches. She took more than one wicket only once, with 2/11 from ten overs against South Australia and had a run of four consecutive single-figure scores in the middle of the season. New South Wales won six of their eight matches and had to play the finals away against Victoria. In the first match, she scored 29 and was then attacked by the home batsmen, taking 1/45 in a three-wicket loss. The next day, she took 1/31 as the hosts were dismissed for 181, but in reply, the defending champions could only make 141 all out, of which Sthalekar made 45.

After a personally and collectively disappointing WNCL in 2002–03, Sthalekar and New South Wales started the new season strongly in the double-header against Western Australia. Sthalekar hit 59 and then took 3/34 in a convincing 82-run win in the opening match. The next day, she brought up her maiden one-day hundred, scoring 108 of 8/284 before taking 2/28 in a heavy 145-run win. However a form slump followed as Sthalekar scored only 39 runs and took one wicket in the next four matches; this included a three-match run included a loss to South Australia and a tie and loss against Victoria. She returned to form in the final double-header against Queensland, contributing 29 and 2/14, and 46 and 2/16, bowling ten overs in both matches as New South Wales won both fixtures by five wickets to qualify second for the finals hosted by the reigning champions Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the first match, Sthalekar scored 5 and took 2/19 from her 10 overs but it was not enough as the hosts reached their target of 129 with six wickets in hand. She took a wicket in each of the remaining matches, which New South Wales won by five and seven wickets respectively to regain the WNCL title, but she contributed little with the bat, scoring 24 and 3. She ended the season with 256 runs at 28.45 and 14 wickets at 17.92 with an economy rate of 2.58 from 11 matches.

In 2001–02, Sthalekar developed into a frontline batswoman. She made her first half-century, compiling four in all for the season. She totalled 347 runs, more than her four previous seasons combined, and took 11 wickets as New South Wales won their sixth consecutive WNCL with a clean sweep. Sthalekar struggled with the ball in the next two international seasons, taking only eight wickets in 12 matches, but she did break through with the bat at international level, making three half-centuries in six matches. In early 2003, she made her Test debut against England, and made 120 not out, her maiden century, in her second match, although she took only three wickets in the two Tests.

These performances earned Sthalekar a call-up into the Australian team for the tour of England in mid-2001. She was overlooked for the one-off Test and made her international debut in the first One Day International (ODI) at County Ground, Derby, playing in a specialist bowler's position. She made one not out at the death as Australia batted first and made 7/238. She then took 2/25 from eight overs as the tourists dismissed England to seal a 99-run win. The next ODI at County Ground, Northampton was similar. She made four not out in Australia's 9/227 and took 1/24 from ten overs in a 118-run victory. Sthalekar was then left out of the team for the third and final ODI, so she missed out on the opportunity to play at Lord's, the home of cricket. The Australians then headed west to Dublin, Ireland to play three ODIs against the hosts' national team. Sthalekar played in all the matches and scored eight runs at 4.00 and took two wickets at 26.00 with an economy rate of 3.21, being run out in each match.

The Australians returned home and Sthalekar was part of the New South Wales team that won their sixth consecutive WNCL title in 2001–02, this time with a clean sweep of all ten matches. During the season, Sthalekar's batting reached new heights. She took 2/34 and then scored an unbeaten 80—her maiden WNCL half-century—to see New South Wales to a six-wicket win over Queensland in the third match of the season. In the double-header against Western Australia, she scored 66 and 60, the latter innings terminated by a run out. She later took 2/14 from ten overs to help restrict Victoria to 8/116, handing New South Wales a six-wicket win in their closest match of the season. New South Wales hosted the finals series against Victoria. In the first match, she took 1/16 from eight overs in Victoria's 133 all out and then scored 31 in a seven-wicket win. The next day, she took 2/22 from her 10 overs and then made 68 to set up a four-wicket win. She was not on hand when the target of 187 was reached, having been run out. She ended the season with 347 runs at 38.55 and 11 wickets at 24.00 at an economy rate of 3.14. Sthalekar has scored more runs in one season than she had doenn in her first four.

In 2000–01, Sthalekar again played in all ten matches of New South Wales' fifth consecutive WNCL title. She struggled in the first three matches, taking only one wicket and scoring 21 runs. In the fourth match, she scored 31 as New South Wales were dismissed for only 174, and took 0/30 from nine overs as Queensland inflicted New South Wales's first loss of the season, by two wickets. After taking 3/23 against Western Australia in the fifth match of the season, she prepared for the finals by scoring 23 and then taking 4/7 from 8.2 overs against Victoria in the last qualifying match, sealing a 69-run win. In the first final against Queensland, she made 43 and conceded only 20 runs from her ten overs as the defending champions dismissed their opponents for 201 to seal a 33-run victory. In the second match, she took 1/18 from her ten overs and fell for a duck as New South Wales won by seven wickets to complete a 2–0 finals series win. The only defeat of the season was a narrow two-wicket loss to Queensland in the fourth match of the season. Sthalekar scored 112 runs at 18.66 and took 11 wickets at 17.45 with an economy rate of 2.25.

In 1999–2000, Sthalekar again had few opportunities with the bat in the middle and lower order as opposition bowlers struggled to make inroads into the New South Wales batting. She scored 68 runs at 34.00 from five innings in ten matches. Sthalekar took 15 wickets at 16.00 at an economy rate of 3.15, including four three-wicket hauls; all four matches ended in a New South Wales victory. All of these came in a period of six matches from the end of October to the start of December and included consecutive three-wicket hauls against Queensland and Victoria. Her best result was a 3/15 to help dismiss South Australia, before scoring 17 not out in a seven-wicket win. New South Wales again made the finals and after taking 2/27 from six overs in a 19-run win over Western Australia in the first match, she took 1/43 from ten overs the next day and made her top-score of the season, compiling an unbeaten 21 in the lower order to help New South Wales to victory by three wickets and claim their fourth successive WNCL, winning all but one of their matches.

In 1998–99, Sthalekar had more success in the WNCL. She batted in the middle-order on occasions and scored 76 runs at 19.00 from four innings in seven matches. She took wickets in all but one match, ending with eight at 21.87. New South Wales met Victoria in the finals and Sthalekar scored 33 before being run out and took 2/21 in a seven-run win. It was Sthalekar's best bowling and batting analysis for the season. They then won the next match by one run to seal a hat-trick of WNCL titles, Sthalekar scoring one and taking 1/19 from her ten overs.

Sthalekar made her debut in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) late in 1997–98 as a specialist bowler, but had little success, totalling 1/120 in her maiden campaign. She improved her performance over the next two seasons, taking 8 and 15 wickets respectively. In three years, she scored only 169 runs with a best score of 33. In 2000–01 Sthalekar took 11 wickets and scored 112 runs in the WNCL and was called into the Australian team for the first time. Playing as a bowler, she made her One Day International (ODI) debut against England and ended the tour of the British Isles with five wickets from as many matches.

Sthalekar made her debut for New South Wales towards the end of the 1997–98 season, against Queensland. She started as primarily a bowler who batted in the lower order and in her first match took 0/19 from six overs and was not required to bat as New South Wales won by five wickets. She played in five matches including the finals series against South Australia. In the first match, she took 1/22 from ten overs in a six-wicket victory, her maiden wicket at senior level in her fourth match, and in the second final, she only bowled five overs for 0/23. She was unbeaten on six when New South Wales reached their target with four wickets in hand to win the finals 2–0 and win the WNCL for the second year in a row. Sthalekar ended her maiden WNCL series with 25 runs at 25.00 and one wicket at 120.00 at an economy rate of 3.00.

In the final group match against the hosts, Sthalekar came in at 5/86 in the 14th over and batted until the end of the innings, finishing unbeaten on 23 from 23 balls as Australia finished on 7/133. She took 1/20 from her four overs, dismissing Shanel Daley as Australia won by nine runs to finish the group stage unbeaten at the top of their quartet.

Lisa Caprini Sthalekar (born 13 August 1979) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of Australia's international women's cricket team. In domestic cricket she represents New South Wales. She is a right-handed all rounder who bowls off spin, and was rated as the leading all rounder in the world when rankings were introduced. She is the first woman to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs. She announced her retirement from international Cricket a day after Australian team won the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup.

Australia batted first and Sthalekar came in with the score at 6/72 in the 16th over to join Sarah Elliott. The pair put on 27 from 22 balls. Sthalekar scored 18 from 13 balls, including two boundaries, before being bowled by Sophie Devine after moving across outside off stump and trying to paddle scoop the ball down to fine leg in the 19th over. Sthalekar was the only Australian to score at faster than a run a ball as the team ended with 8/106.