As Devine’s domination continues, Adelaide Strikers defeat Perth Scorchers by 8 wickets at Brisbane on Saturday.
On winning the toss, Adelaide Skipper opted to field. There were no major changes for Adelaide, coming to Perth they lost their both overseas players Jones and Sciver because of National duties. It was a big loss for the team in an all-important semifinal.
In a crucial match, you expect the best from the Captain. Sadly, Lanning failed to deliver that as she was dismissed for just 1 in the bowling of Devine. On the other side, even Bolton couldn’t play a responsible inning in the decider as she got out for just 12. Perth was struggling at 23 with the loss of three wickets.
To rescue the team, it was the NSW keeper Redmayne who played a decent and responsible inning of 52 runs including 3 fours and 1 sixes helped Scorchers to set something for the chase. She got good support from the all-rounder Barsby who scored a slow and responsible for 31 which made scorchers to end on 126 for 7 in 20 overs.
With the ball, it was again the pair of Schutt and Devine who delivered it for Strikers. Both picked up a couple of very important wickets which destroyed the batting lineup of Scorchers.
Chasing the target of 127, Strikers who did not lose any of the players continued with the same lineup. Like Scorchers, even the Strikers skipper failed to deliver as she got out for just 1 in a mixup with Devine.
With the departure of Skipper, it was Devine who is in the best form of her life, she took responsibility for the chase. Instead of going for her natural game, she focussed more on playing on merit and tried to hit only the loose balls.
As a result, Sophie Devine scored her 9th fifty of the season scoring an unbeaten 65 runs including 8 fours and 1 sixes.
The opener got good support from the young all-rounder McGrath who scored a responsible 36 which made the chase easy for Strikers. Though McGrath got out trying to finish the match early, Devine stayed till the end and successfully completed the chase remaining unbeaten and took Strikers to the final as they won by 8 wickets chasing the total in 18.1 overs
Sophie Devine was awarded as the player of the match with her excellent performance with bat and ball.
Brief Score: Scorchers 126 for 7 in 20 overs ( Redmayne 52 & Schutt 2 for 14) lost to Strikers 130 for 2 in 18.1 overs ( Devine 65* & Garth 1 for 33) by 8 wickets.
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