The second weekend of WBBL04 saw some more excellent performances and perhaps saw the emergence of the better teams taking more control of their early season, highlighted by two terrific performances by the reigning champions on their favourite ground.
The Scorchers are struggling, and without Elyse Villani they would be shot ducks. Their batting so far has been exposed, and it hasn’t given their bowlers much chance to win them. They were cruising at 1/108 off 11 overs against the Sixers and should have made somewhere between 180-200, but consistent wicket losses in the second half of the innings meant they only managed to score 9/167, which at North Sydney Oval was well within the Sixers range, and this is a game they will look back at and know they should have won. Then after a short turnaround they fell over against the Heat, managing only 8/103 off their full complement, and the Heat knocked them off with little concern. Villani was the rock at the top in both games, scoring 32 and 45. Meg Lanning’s absence due to back stiffness was unfortunate and obvious, and they need the Australian captain back and firing quickly if they are to recover from this average start to the season.
The Sixers were able to reverse last weekend’s loss against the Stars, on this occasion pulling back the Scorchers in the same way the Stars had pulled them back, and then having a brilliant century getting the team home in the chase. This time it was Ellyse Perry who timed her innings to perfection, showing once again that despite her demotion down the order in Australia’s World T20 victory she is still one of Australia’s best batters in all forms of the game. With the ball though it was the South African pairing of Marizanne Kapp (1/29) and Dane van Niekerk (3/32) that dragged the game back with crucial wickets. Then on Saturday they overpowered the Thunder in the Sydney Smash once again due to the brilliance of Perry. She batted through the 20 overs batting first, anchoring the innings with 74 not out and keeping the team above water when it felt as though they were flailing, along with a great innings from Erin Burns who scored 44 off 22 deliveries. The Sixers scored 36 runs off the final 14 deliveries, and this turned out to be the difference in the match. The Thunder probably missed a trick batting their international superstars Stefanie Taylor and Harmanpreet Kaur at 5 and 6, as Kaur’s 45 from 28 balls probably conceded. Lauren Cheatle found her mojo after two lacklustre games to take 2/15 while Perry added 2/11 to her brilliant start to WBBL04. The Sixers may have lost their first match when they should have won easily, but they have made up for it over this weekend.
In the final North Sydney match-up, the Heat blew their chances of beating the Thunder through poor catching, with four sitters being dropped off the Thunder openers Priest and Haynes, which allowed them to dictate and dominate the opening overs. Their opening partnership of 89 off ten overs gave the team the platform to a big total that should never have been given. Priest with 49 from 28 and Haynes with 36 from 34 finally departed, but then it was Kaur and Blackwell who dominated in a similar fashion. As she did on Saturday Kaur was sensational, hitting 56 from 26 deliveries including six fours and three sixes, while skipper Blackwell finished the innings with 33 not out off just 18 deliveries. Harmanpreet Kaur is a star, and the one to watch for the rest of the summer in my opinion. Despite the loss of Beth Mooney early, Grace Harris never dies wondering, and she gave the fans what they wanted to see scoring 54 off 28 deliveries before a brilliant diving catch from Kaur ended her dominance. Her demise also meant the end of the Heat's chances of victory, and they will be ruing those dropped catches all the way back to Brisbane.
At St. Kilda the Renegades and the Strikers played a weekend double header. On Saturday the Renegades pulled off an exciting and unexpected victory over the Strikers, with Claire Koski needing a boundary off the final delivery of the match to ensure a victory, which she duly delivered by taking a ball from two feet outside off stump to the square leg boundary. The Strikers top order of Suzie Bates (54), Sophie Devine (39) and Tahlia McGrath (33) led the Strikers to 7/153, a defendable if not safe total. Danni Wyatt smashed 62 at the top of the order for the Renegades before Amanda Wellington’s leg spin curtailed the chase, taking 3/27, and with the Renegades at 4/92 in the 13th over the Strikers looked the winners. Koski with 39 not out and Erica Kershaw with 30 not out negotiated themselves to within sight of the finishing line, which they were then able to crest.
On Sunday at Ballarat rain intervened to possibly change the outcome. The Renegades had crawled along to 4/83 off 14.3 overs when the rains came down, after Megan Schutt had taken two early wickets, but Sophie Molineux was 44 not out. The revised conditions meant the Strikers needed 78 runs off eleven overs, but the rain came again and at 2/27 off 4.3 overs the game was declared over and the points were shared.
The other double header of the weekend occurred in Burnie where the Hurricanes hosted the Stars. On Saturday the Hurricanes made a competitive total of 6/158, thanks in the main to Heather Knight who smashed 82 not out off 55 balls, including nine fours and three sixes. The Stars were in some trouble in reply at 3/23 but another great role from Mignon du Preez with 59 not out and Erin Osbourne with 67 from 46 balls got the Stars home with a ball to spare.
The Sunday game was the match of the weekend, as the Hurricanes became the first team to really cash in on a great start. Hayley Matthews and Smriti Mandhana put on 98 in nine overs for the second wicket to obliterate the Stars attack, and it was only halted when Matthews slipped and severely injured her hamstring and was run out for 42. In other games this season for all teams this has triggered a collapse but here the Hurricanes kept going, with Mandhana scoring 69, and Knight, Hall and Maloney all scoring 23’s to get the Hurricanes to a total of 6/196. Lizelle Lee then hit the first three balls of the Stars innings for boundaries before falling off the fifth ball. The Stars went hard but kept losing wickets, with Knight’s 3/10 the best in a great all-round bowling and fielding performance. The Hurricanes will not only be disappointed not to have won both games, but the injury to Matthews could be vital to their prospects as well.
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