Sydney Thunder led by skipper Phoebe Litchfield defeated Hobart Hurricanes led by skipper Elyse Villani by 33 runs in the 7th match of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 10 at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney. Heather Knight was awarded the Player of the Match for her brilliant innings (48 off 28 balls) with the bat for her side.
A quick turn-around for the Phoebe Litchfield led side meant the Thunder were up against the Adelaide Strikers led by skipper Tahlia McGrath in the 8th match of the tournament at the North Sydney Oval, Sydney.
Sydney Thunder won the toss and opted to bat first, and openers Chamari Athapaththu and Georgia Voll got their side off to a flying start with a 54-run opening partnership, scoring at a rate of over 10 runs an over.
Orla Prendergast picked up the wicket of Chamari Athapaththu to provide the first breakthrough for the Strikers. Skipper Phoebe Litchfield joined Georgia Voll at the crease and the duo stitched a massive 94-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side closer to the 150-run mark. Megan Schutt picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Phoebe Litchfield to provide the 2nd breakthrough for her side.
Heather Knight joined Georgia Voll at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 46-run partnership for the 3rd wicket to take their side close to the 200-run mark. Orla Prendergast returned and picked up the wicket of Georgia Voll to provide the 3rd breakthrough for the Strikers. Sydney Thunder eventually ended up with a total of 212/5 in their quota of 20 overs. Georgia Voll (92 off 55 balls), skipper Phoebe Litchfield (49 off 31 balls), and Heather Knight (28 off 15 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Sydney Thunder. Orla Prendergast (4-0-35-3), Megan Schutt (4-0-40-1), and Anesu Mushangwe (4-0-40-0) were the top performers with the ball for Adelaide Strikers.
Chasing a massive target of 213, the Strikers got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Laura Wolvaardt in the 3rd over of the run chase, with Shabnim Ismail providing the first breakthrough for the Sydney Thunder.
Wicket-keeper batter Ellie Johnston joined Katie Mack at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 27-run partnership for the 2nd wicket leading some sort of a recovery for their side. Samantha Bates landed a double blow to the Strikers to send back the wicket-keeper batter E Johnston and their skipper Tahlia McGrath in quick succession in the final over of the powerplay.
Madeline Penna joined opening batter Katie Mack at the crease and the duo stitched a much-needed 52-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side closer to the 100-run mark. Shabnim Ismail returned and picked up the wicket of Madeline Penna to provide the 4th breakthrough for her side. The Adelaide Strikers suffered a horrible collapse as they lost their last 6 wickets for just 58 runs. As a result, were eventually bundled out for 148 with four balls to spare, falling 64 runs short of the target.
Katie Mack (51 off 42 balls), Madeline Penna (25 off 21 balls), Jemma Barsby (22 off 16 balls), wicket-keeper batter E Johnston (18 off 11 balls), and Anesu Mushangwe (16* off 7 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Adelaide Strikers. Samantha Bates (4-0-21-4), Shabnim Ismail (3.2-0-18-3), Sammy-Jo Johnson (3-0-21-1), and Hannah Darlington (4-0-35-1) were the top performers with the ball for Sydney Thunder.
Georgia Voll was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning (92 off 55 balls) innings with the bat for her side.
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