The first weekend of WBBL04, with all eight teams playing in four matches held at the Junction Oval at St. Kilda, not only welcomed back our World T20 winning team and players but provided a great showcase of the women’s game in Australia, but with most of the highlights provided by the international players who have come to play for the next two months.
Sophie Devine was divine in her innings of 89 from 55 deliveries, which was the driving force in the Strikers victory over the Heat. She was superb, flaying the ball to all parts of the ground, and the Strikers total of 7/172 always looked to be too many. In reply two early wickets halted any momentum, and the Heat’s Beth Mooney (63*) and Kirby Short (62*) actually batted out the innings, and even as the run rate kept climbing, they couldn’t get the ball to the boundary, nor could they get themselves out to do so. It was comical at the end seeing a team lose by 36 runs but be only two wickets down.
The Thunder made short work of the Renegades in their clash, but it was the pace pairing of Lea Tahuhu and Tayla Vlaeminck that lit up the late afternoon. The Renegades struggled to reach 8/98 off their 20 overs, and may have missed a trick in having their veteran Kiwi Amy Satterthwaite batting so low in the order. Rene Farrell was excellent with three wickets for the Thunder, who then made fairly easy work of the chase to win by six wickets. However, Tahuhu bowled well and bowled good pace in the mid-120kph range, as did you Vlaeminck on debut, taking all four wickets to fall and closing in on 130kph on a couple of deliveries. The Thunder look as though they could improve on last season’s effort, but the Renegades bowling in particular will be worth watching.
It always felt as though the Scorchers were in control of their game against the Hurricanes, even though it took until the fourth last delivery to deliver the win to the side. Georgia Redmayne was important in the final five overs in getting the Hurricanes up to a competitive total, her 49 from 48 deliveries allowed the Hobart based team to reach their final total of 7/143, which seemed to be about 15-20 short of what would be required. Three run outs in the seven dismissals hurt the team badly. In reply, Elyse Villani got the team off to a great start with 58 from 39 deliveries, but when she departed at 4/99 in the 15th over the Hurricanes were still well placed. However a great partnership from Lauren Ebsary (40*) and Chloe Piparo (26*) of 48 from 30 balls saw their team home to a good win.
The best match of the weekend was the Stars against the Sixers, and had some amazing moments. The Sixers looked to have blown away their opponents from the outset, crashing their way to 0/108 in the 12th over, with Australian stars Ellyse Perry (58) and Alyssa Healy (70) tearing the bowling apart. A minimum score of 200 looked to be their target, but once these two were dismissed the Stars bowlers and fielders shut the team down, conceding just 57 runs from the final 8 overs to restrict the Sixers to a disappointing final total of 7/165. Nicola Hancock was superb with 4/22. In reply it was two South Africans who monstered the classy Sixers bowling line up, with Lizelle Lee crushing her opponents from the opening position to finish on 102 not out off 56 deliveries, with 16 fours and 3 sixes in an amazing knock. She got great support from countrywoman Mignon du Preez with 33 off 27 balls, and the Stars won by seven wickets with almost three overs in hand. It was a massive win for the Stars, and a big wake up call for the reigning champions.
It was a great first weekend for the WBBL, and sets up what looks like it should be a terrific series, and one watched by more people than ever before given the increased national coverage and the World Cup victory.
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