The Thunder have sent an ominous warning to the rest of the WBBL after they posted the equal third-highest total in competition history to smash the Strikers by 64 runs thanks to a career-best 92 to Georgia Voll.
A day after they beat the Hurricanes, the Thunder returned to North Sydney Oval and piled on 5-212 – their highest ever total – to hand the defending champions their second loss from three matches to start the new season.
And while skipper Phoebe Litchfield hit a sparkling 49 off 31, Voll was the chief destroyer with just the second half-century of her career as she smashed 92 off just 55 deliveries, including 12 boundaries and three sixes.
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Voll reached 50 just once during her first four seasons with the Heat, but dominated on Friday as she brought up 1000 WBBL runs before she fell agonisingly short of a maiden century after missing out in her first two knocks for her new club.
“It’s nice to get out there and have some fun. It was nice to be able to bat for a long time because I got out quite cheaply in the first couple of games,” she said after slipping down the order to bat ninth last year at the Heat.
“Definitely (that’s the best I’ve hit them). I’ve been up and down the order, so it’s nice to be settled at the top of the order, play my role really well and have the backing to play my shots.”
Voll shared a 54-run partnership for the opening stand and then added another 94 with Litchfield as the pair blitzed the Strikers with a barrage of boundaries to pile on 30 runs off seven balls midway through the innings.
Her departure didn’t slow down the run rate, with the hosts breezing past their previous highest total of 204 at the same venue last year, with the visitors only able to post 148 in reply.
STRUCK OUT
Adelaide needed something special from their top order if they were to pull off a record run chase, but their star batters never got going with Thunder spinner Sam Bates striking twice in the sixth over to effectively kill off the contest.
After Ellie Johnston was caught in the deep, Bates had Strikers skipper Tahlia McGrath trapped in front for a duck as she finished with career-best figures of 4-21.
Katie Mack (51) and Maddie Penna (25) added 52 for the fourth wicket, but any hopes they had ended when Penna was brilliantly caught by Anika Learoyd as she balanced on one leg and threw the ball back to herself as she scrambled back into the field of the play.
The loss leaves the two-time defending champions with one win from their first three matches, with the Strikers to take on the Renegades on Sunday.
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