The Hobart Hurricanes led by skipper Elyse Villani were up against Sydney Thunder led by skipper Phoebe Litchfield in the 4th match of the Women’s Big Bash League at the Bellerive Oval, Hobart. Sydney Thunder’s new skipper Phoebe Litchfield won the toss and opted to field first. After being inserted to bat first, Hobart Hurricanes got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of their opening batter Lizelle Lee in the 2nd over of the innings. Samantha Bates provided the first breakthrough for Sydney Thunder.
Nicola Carey joined Danielle Wyatt-Hodge at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 44-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark. Georgia Adams picked up the wicket of Danielle to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Skipper Elyse Villani joined Nicola Carey at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 39-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Chamari Athapaththu cleaned up Nicola Carey to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Sydney Thunder. She completed her well-deserved half-century before getting dismissed, her first since 2019 (WBBL 05).
Hobart Hurricanes eventually ended up with a total of 141/7 in their quota of 20 overs. Nicola Carey (52 off 38 balls), Tabatha Saville (23* off 16 balls), and skipper Elyse Villani (21 off 15 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the Hobart Hurricanes. Samantha Bates (4-0-20-3), Chamari Athapaththu (4-0-26-2), Sammy-Jo Johnson (4-0-19-1), Shabnim Ismail (4-0-30-0), and Georgia Adams (2-0-16-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sydney Thunder.
Chasing a target of 142, the Thunders got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Chamari Athapaththu in the first ball of the run chase with Molly Strano providing the first breakthrough for the Hurricanes. Skipper Phoebe Litchfield joined Georgia Adams at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 24-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Lauren Smith picked up the wicket of Georgia Voll to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side. Thunder lost a couple of wickets in quick succession to bring the Hobart Hurricanes firmly back into the contest.
Anika Learoyd joined skipper Phoebe Litchfield at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 52-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Heather Graham picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Phoebe Litchfield to provide the 5th breakthrough for Hobart Hurricanes.
Sydney Thunder were eventually bundled out for 110, falling short of the target by 31 runs with 2 overs to spare. Skipper Phoebe Litchfield (51 off 37 balls), and Anika Learoyd (29 off 27 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sydney Thunder, also the only two batters to enter double digits. Heather Graham (4-0-19-3), Lauren Smith (3-0-17-2), Chloe Tryon (3-0-19-2), Molly Strano (4-1-22-1), and Nicola Carey (3-0-18-1) were the top performers with the ball for Hobart Hurricanes.
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