All eyes were on superstar Nat Sciver-Brunt but it was her English teammate Danni Wyatt-Hodge who ended up being the star of the show for the Hobart Hurricanes at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Sunday night.
Wyatt-Hodge 90 (52) and Nicola Carey 58 (43) scored their 11th and sixth WBBL half centuries respectively to combine for a Hurricane’s record 143-run partnership, as the Hobart-based side chased down Sydney Thunder with three balls remaining to win by six wickets.
There were a host of international stars on show on the opening day of WBBL|11 but none shone brighter than the 34-year-old opener Wyatt-Hodge, who made her debut for England at just 19.
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The right hander was brilliant on both sides of the wicket, cutting, driving and pulling anything loose to within reach of a century. She was given one life, dropped on 44 by Sam Bates, a costly error from which Thunder never recovered.
“I felt good from ball one,” Wyatt-Hodge said.
“So just (trying to) capitalize on anything too full or too short. It’s T20 isn’t it, so just trying to bat to my strengths and have intent and I enjoyed batting there with Nic (Carey).”
Batting first, Thunder set a big target of 182, courtesy of 71 runs from internationals Heather Knight (39 from 31) and Chamari Athapaththu (32 from 22) and some ill-discipline from the Hurricanes with the ball, giving up 16 runs in wides alone.
The Canes were in trouble early in the chase, losing Lizelle Lee and Sciver-Brunt inside the power play.
Lee, who clubbed a WBBL record 150 not out in a match against the Perth Scorchers last year, was the first Hurricane to fall, out for 13 from 11 balls at the hands of her South African compatriot Shabnim Ismail (2-22) in the third over.
The next over Sciver-Brunt was heading back to the pavilion, bowled by tweaker Bates (2-39).
Enter Wyatt-Hodge and Carey to right the ship and guide the Canes to an impressive victory.
Silver lining for Hayley
Hurricanes speedster Hayley Silver-Holmes had some struggles with her radar, bowling eight wides, costing 13 runs, but the 22-year-old bounced back to take the wickets of Knight and Laura Harris.
Silver-Holmes, who made her WBBL debut for the Sydney Sixers at just 15, has battled injury for several seasons, missing the entire WBBL|10 and 08 seasons, but looked fitter and importantly faster than she ever has.
Litchfield cut short
Thunder captain Phoebe Litchfield, who is emerging as one of the best batters in world cricket, looked like she was about to cut loose, taking veteran spinner Molly Strano down for a four and six from reverse sweeps in successive balls, only to mis-time a conventional sweep the next ball to find a deep leg gully, out for 16 (6).
Litchfield is coming off a breakout 50 over world cup where she finished as the tournament’s fifth highest run scorer with an average of 50.66.
Harris cameo
Thunder GM Trent Copeland said after last year’s tournament that his side needed someone like Laura Harris to do Laura Harris things late in an innings and promptly enticed the Brisbane Heat veteran to Sydney’s West.
In a stunning cameo tonight, Harris showed exactly why, belting 20 runs from just seven balls in less than ten minutes at the crease.
Heat vs Renegades – WBBL 11 Highlights | 13:39
GADES TITLE DEFENCE OFF TO A FLYER
More than an hour of annoying drizzle did its best to ruin the WBBL season opener at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Sunday, but the weather couldn’t dampen the Melbourne Renegades’ title defence.
Facing the Brisbane Heat in a replay of last year’s final, opener Courtney Webb was the cool hand the Gades needed, scoring 34 (22) to guide her side to a 7-wicket DLS victory with three balls remaining.
The win was made even more impressive considering the Renegades were missing injured skipper Sophie Molineux with a minor quad strain.
The covers came on at the innings break and delayed the start to the Renegades’ innings, slashing the target to 66 from just eight overs after the Heat had scored 133 in an uninterrupted first innings.
Flintoff strikes: Takes 1st Gades WKT | 00:40
The match resumed with rain falling lightly and the Heat immediately turned up the pressure with 19-year-old Lucy Hamilton taking a wicket with first ball and then Sianna Ginger grabbing two in the next over, leaving the Gades at 3/13. Enter Webb and stand in skipper Georgia Wareham.
Earlier, the Heat were all out on the final wicket of their innings, after seemingly cruising at 3/86 at the start of the 13th over.
Wareham (16 from 13), who was at the crease with Webb when she struck the winning runs, was the star with the ball for the Renegades, snaring career best WBBL figures of 3/12 from her four overs.
“It’s great way to start, I think, get a win on the board in some tricky conditions,” Wareham said after being award the player of the match.
“You don’t really plan for that when you come up here, but happy to be able to fly home with a win.”
Heat miss TWO crucial run-out chances | 00:51
International impact
The Heat’s international stars Jemimah Rodrigues and Nadine de Klerk, fresh from starring roles in the recent 50 over World Cup, where they were both named in the team of the tournament, had mixed days at the office.
South African de Klerk, opening in the WBBL for the first time, top scored with 40 (38), while Rodrigues fell cheaply for six (9).
Rodrigues, with a virtuoso 127 not out, was the player of the match in India’s record run chase to knock Australia out of the World Cup in the semi final, while all-rounder de Klerk was the star when South Africa upset India earlier in the competition.
Harris-less Heat
It’s hard to remember a Brisbane Heat WBBL side without a Harris on the field but that happened today with Laura, the big off-season signing for the Sydney Thunder, and Grace, sitting this one out with a calf strain.
The pair have been mainstays in the Heat squad since the WBBL’s inception, winning two title and playing a combined 230 matches in teal – 123 for Laura and 107 for Grace.
Grace revealed during commentary that she would miss just one match and expects to return for the Heat’s second game, at home against the Perth Scorchers, on Wednesday.
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