The ninth edition of the Women’s Big Bash League got underway on 19th October 2023 (Thursday) with an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Melbourne Stars led by skipper Meg Lanning came up against the Sydney Sixers led by skipper Ashleigh Gardner in the absence of regular skipper Ellyse Perry who missed the tournament opener. However, she will be back in the next game to resume her leadership duties for the Sydney Sixers.
The Melbourne Renegades led by skipper Hayley Matthews came up against the Brisbane Heat led by skipper Jess Jonassen in the second clash of the tournament. The Melbourne Renegades skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the Brisbane Heat openers got off to a flying start, scoring at almost 10 runs an over before the leg-spinner Georgia Wareham dismissed Grace Harris for a well-made 49, scoring at a strike rate of 188.46, falling just one short of her half-century to provide the first breakthrough.
Georgia Voll joined wicket-keeper batter Georgia Redmayne and the duo stitched a 17-run partnership for the second wicket before skipper Hayley Matthews cleaned up Georgia Voll to get her the first wicket of the day and as they say, one wicket brings two as she dismissed Mignon du Preez to get her the second wicket in the over. Bess Heath joined Georgia Redmayne at the crease and the duo stitched a 20-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Georgia Prestwidge dismissed Bess Heath as she edged her slash to a ball outside off-stump and the wicket-keeper Josephine Dooley completed an easy catch behind the stumps.
Skipper Jess Jonassen joined Georgia Redmayne at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 28-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Harmanpreet Kaur dismissed the opposition skipper Jess Jonassen as she has the last laugh after being smashed for a maximum earlier in the over. Wicket-keeper batter Georgia Redmayne followed her back to the pavilion to provide skipper Hayley Matthews her third wicket of the day, by bowling a bumper to surprise the batter as she failed to get the timing and power behind her short and Harmanpreet Kaur completed a brilliant diving catch. Yet another batter fell just one run short of her well-deserved half-century.
Mikayla Hinkley joined Charlie Knott and the duo stitched a 38-run partnership for the 7th wicket before Sarah Coyte ended her cameo of 25 runs scoring at an impressive strike rate of 191.66. They eventually ended up with a total of 187/9 in their quota of overs. Grace Harris (49 off 26 balls), Georgia Redmayne (49 off 39 balls), and Charlie Knott (23 off 12 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Brisbane Heat. Skipper Hayley Matthews (3/30) and Sarah Coyte (2/30) were the top performers with the ball for the Melbourne Renegades.
Chasing a target of 188, the Melbourne Renegades openers got off to a flying start, scoring at almost 11 runs per over before Charlie Knott dismissed the opening batter Tammy Beaumont for an 18-ball 34, scoring at an impressive strike rate of 188.88. Charli Knott provided the first breakthrough for the Brisbane Heat. Skipper Hayley Matthews soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the crucial second breakthrough for the Brisbane Heat.
Courtney Webb joined wicket-keeper batter Josephine Dooley at the crease and the duo stitched a 19-run partnership for the third wicket before the leg-spinner Sarah Glenn cleaned up the wicket-keeper batter Josephine Dooley for an 8-ball 13 to provide the third breakthrough for Brisbane Heat. Harmanpreet Kaur joined Courtney Webb at the crease and the duo stitched a crucial 28-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Charlie Knott dismissed Courtney Webb to get her the third wicket of the day. They were eventually restricted to 181/8, falling just 6 runs short of the target despite of a cameo from Georgia Wareham (36 off 16 balls), scoring at a humongous strike rate of 225.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, it’s just Sarah Glenn taking a speccy 😍#WBBL09
— TheCricketMen (@thecricketmen) October 20, 2023
Georgia Wareham (36 off 16 balls) and Tammy Beaumont (34 off 18 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the Melbourne Renegades. The leg-spinner Sarah Glenn (4/23) was the top performer with the ball for the Brisbane Heat. Charlie Knott was awarded the Player of the Match for her all-round performance in the match, scoring (23 off 12 balls) with the bat and picking up (3/33) with the ball.
Brisbane Heat kick off their campaign with a thrilling 6-run victory in Match 2 of WBBL! 🔥#CricketTwitter #WBBL | 📸: Getty pic.twitter.com/e8LdsNE7Cf
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 20, 2023