Beth Mooney's fifty and Alana King's five-fer headline Perth Scorchers' convincing win

In the 14th match of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 10, hosts Perth Scorchers were asked to bat first by the Brisbane Heat. While another fifty from Beth Mooney propelled the team to a competitive total, Alana King spun the Scorchers to victory, despite a late blitz from Laura Harris.

The Scorchers’ openers, Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney, provided the team with a solid foundation, accumulating 40 runs from their opening-wicket stand, which came to an end on the final ball of the powerplay when Nadine de Klerk foxed Sophie Devine (25 off 22) with a perfect yorker. Dayalan Hemalatha didn’t add much to the tally, departing for 7 after contributing to a 17-run partnership with Mooney, who had begun to switch gears.

Amy Jones also departed cheaply for 10 (11), but she and Mooney shared another important 24-run partnership, leaving the Scorchers at 3/81. They continued to lose wickets in quick succession, slipping to 106/6. Nevertheless, opening batter Mooney saw off the entire innings, scoring 77 runs from 52 balls, including 9 boundaries, before departing on the final ball, guiding the team to 142/8. For the Heat, Nicola Hancock (3/23), Nadine de Klerk (2/31), Shikha Pandey (1/17), and Charli Knott (1/9) were among the wicket-takers.

In reply, the Heat didn’t have the best start, as in-form Grace Harris fell for 14 (9), followed by Georgia Redmayne (0) and Jemimah Rodrigues (13), which left them reeling at 3/38 inside the powerplay. Skipper Jess Jonassen and Charli Knott stepped in to stabilize the run chase, forming a much-needed partnership, but their 24-run stand came to an end with Jonassen departing for 14 (16), and in the next over, Knott was dismissed for 13 (14). The Heat failed to recover, losing a couple more wickets in quick succession, collapsing to 7/87.

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Laura Harris’s late blitz of 40 runs off 21 balls only narrowed the Scorchers’ winning margin, as they ultimately triumphed by 28 runs. Alana King was instrumental in the win, dismissing the dangerously striking Laura Harris, handing Grace Parsons a golden duck, and although she missed out on a hat-trick, she completed her maiden WBBL five-wicket haul by dismissing Shikha Pandey, folding the Heat for 114 in 18 overs. King finished with impressive figures of 5/16, while Ebony Hoskin (2/19), Chloe Ainsworth (1/25), Amy Edgar (1/31), and Sophie Devine (1/16) also contributed to the wickets tally.