Charis Bekker and Milly Illingworth’s spell help Renegades beat Stars by 15 Runs

In the 18th match, Sydney Sixers, led by skipper Ellyse Perry, defeated Melbourne Stars, led by skipper Annabel Sutherland, by 6 runs at the Junction Oval, Melbourne. In the next game at the same venue, Melbourne Renegades, led by stand-in skipper Hayley Matthews, were up against Annabel Sutherland’s Melbourne Stars at the Junction Oval, Melbourne. Scroll to read the details of the match.

Team Melbourne Renegades. PC: Getty
Team Melbourne Renegades. PC: Getty

The Melbourne Stars skipper Annabel Sutherland won the toss and elected to field first. After being inserted to bat first, the Renegades openers Courtney Webb and Hayley Matthews got their side off to a steady start with a 34-run opening partnership.

Marizanne Kapp picked up the big wicket of the opposition skipper Hayley Matthews to provide the first breakthrough for the Stars. The Renegades suffered a collapse as they lost their next four wickets for just 53 runs. The Renegades eventually ended up with a total of 146/6 in their quota of 20 overs, courtesy of a crucial 55-run partnership for the 6th wicket between wicket-keeper batter Nicole Faltum and Naomi Stalenberg.

Alice Capsey (33 off 15 balls), wicket-keeper batter Nicole Faltum (29 off 23 balls), and Naomi Stalenberg (26 off 17 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Melbourne Renegades. Marizanne Kapp (4-0-22-2) and skipper Annabel Sutherland (4-0-26-2) were the top performers with the ball for the Stars.

Chasing a target of 147, the Stars got off to a poor start as they lost the wicket of Ines Mckeon in the 3rd over of the run chase. Milly Illinworth provided the first breakthrough for the Melbourne Renegades. Meg Lanning joined wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia at the crease, and the duo stitched a much-needed 30-run partnership for the 2nd wicket to take their side closer to the 50-run mark. Wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia was found short of her crease to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the Renegades.

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The Stars kept losing wickets at regular intervals and, as a result, were restricted to 131/9 in their quota of 20 overs, falling 15 runs short of the target. Deepti Sharma (23 off 20 balls) and Marizanne Kapp (16 off 8 balls) were the top performers with the bat for the Melbourne Stars.

Every bowler for the Renegades picked up a wicket each. Charis Bekker (4-0-9-1), Hayley Matthews (4-0-26-1), and Alice Capsey (4-0-27-1) were the top performers with the ball for their side. Charis Bekker was awarded Player of the Match for her exceptional, match-winning spell of 1/9 at just 2.25 economy for the Melbourne Renegades.

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