Perth Scorchers led by skipper Beth Mooney were up against Melbourne Stars led by skipper Annabel Sutherland at the W.A.C.A, Perth in the 3rd match on the opening day of the 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).
Melbourne Stars skipper Annabel Sutherland won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, Perth Scorchers failed to get any kind of momentum to their innings as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The Scorchers eventually dragged themselves to a total of 122/8 in their quota of 20 overs. The 25-run 5th wicket partnership between Chloe Piparo and Amy Jones was the highest partnership of the innings for their side. Skipper Beth Mooney (31 off 27 balls), Amy Jones (30 off 28 balls), and Chloe Piparo (23 off 19 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the Perth Scorchers.
Sophie Day (4-0-21-3), Kim Garth (4-0-23-2), Marizanne Kapp (4-0-18-1), and skipper Annabel Sutherland (4-0-25-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Stars.
Chasing a target of 123, the Melbourne Stars openers Ines Mckeon and Meg Lanning got their side off to a good start with a 33-run opening partnership. Chloe Ainsworth struck twice in the 5th over of the run chase to land a double blow to the Stars, dismissing Meg (9) and handing Annabel a 3-ball duck. Marizanne Kapp joined Ines Mckeon at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 23-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark. However, Marizanne Kapp’s stay at the crease came to an unfortunate end as she was found short of her crease at the non-striker’s end when the ball deflected off Alana King’s hand to disturb the stumps, providing the 3rd breakthrough for the Scorchers.
Melbourne Stars suffered a horrible collapse as they lost their last seven wickets for just 53 runs, as a result, falling short of the target by 13 runs, with four balls to spare. Ines Mckeon (50 off 43 balls), and Kim Garth (10 off 13 balls), were the top performers with the bat for the Stars, while Alana King (3.2-0-20-3), Chloe Ainsworth (4-0-18-2), Amy Edgar (4-0-15-1), and Lilly Mills (3-0-13-1) were the top performers with the ball for the Scorchers.
Chloe Ainsworth was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant match-winning spell (4-0-18-2) with the ball, accounting for the wickets of Meg Lanning and Melbourne Stars skipper Annabel Sutherland.
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