Sydney Thunder led by skipper Phoebe Litchfield were all set to face-off against the Hobart Hurricanes led by skipper Elyse Villani in the 7th match of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 10 at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney.
Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and opted to field first. The game was eventually reduced to a 17-overs per side contest courtesy of rain. After being inserted to bat first, the Sydney Thunder openers Chamari Athapaththu and Georgia Voll got their side off to a good start with a 34-run opening partnership.
Heather Graham picked up the wicket of Georgia Voll to provide the first breakthrough for the Hurricanes. Skipper Phoebe Litchfield soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the Hurricanes. Heather Knight joined opening batter Chamari Athapaththu at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 35-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark.
Molly Strano picked up the wicket of Chamari Athapaththu to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. Wicket-keeper batter Tahlia Wilson joined Heather Knight at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 45-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side closer to the 130-run mark. Heather Graham returned and picked up the wicket of Heather Knight to provide the much-needed 4th breakthrough for the Hobart Hurricanes. Heather Knight fell two runs short of her well-deserved half-century.
Sydney Thunder eventually ended up with a total of 146/5 in their quota of 17 overs. Heather Knight (48 off 28 balls), Chamari Athapaththu (38 off 29 balls), and Georgia Voll (15 off 15 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sydney Thunder. Heather Graham (3-0-22-2), Nicola Carey (3-0-25-2), Kathryn Bryce (3-0-19-0), and Molly Strano (3-0-41-1) were the top performers with the ball for Hobart Hurricanes.
Chasing a target of 147, the Hobart Hurricanes openers Danielle Wyatt-Hodge and wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee got their side off to a positive start with a 19-run opening partnership, scoring at a rate of 9 runs an over. Chamari Athapaththu picked up the wicket of Danielle Wyatt-Hodge in the 3rd over of the run chase to provide the first breakthrough for Sydney Thunder.
Nicola Carey soon followed her back to the pavilion to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the Thunder. Skipper Elyse Villani joined wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 26-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side to the 50-run mark. Hannah Darlington picked up the wicket of the wicket-keeper batter L Lee to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side.
Heather Graham joined skipper Elyse Villani at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 43-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Samantha Bates cleaned up the opposition skipper Elyse Villani to provide the 4th breakthrough for the Thunder. The Hobart Hurricanes were eventually restricted to 113/8 in their quota of 17 overs, falling short of the target by 33 runs.
Heather Graham (31 off 20 balls), skipper Elyse Villani (25 off 25 balls), and wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee (18 off 22 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Hobart Hurricanes. Hannah Darlington (4-0-16-3), Chamari Athapaththu (3-0-11-1), Samantha Bates (3-0-21-1), and Shabnim Ismail (4-0-29-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sydney Thunder.
Heather Knight was awarded the Player of the Match for her crucial innings (48 off 28 balls) with the bat for her side. As a result, played a crucial role for her side registering their first points on the board in a rain-curtailed contest.
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