At Junction Oval in St. Kilda, Jess Jonassen's allround show helped Heat to a six-run victory over Renegades. The hard-hitting allrounder scored an unbeaten 63 and later with the ball in hand picked up one wicket to take her team over the line in a close game.
Sent in to bat first Heat's innings was jolted early the by the dismissal of in form Beth Mooney for nine. Two more wickets of Maddy Green (32) and Sammy-Jo Johnson (15) enabled Renegades keep the explosive Heat batting line-up in check for the first 10 overs. Jonassen though had other ideas as she scored a blistering 63 off just 29 balls. The off-spinning allrounder hit six fours and three sixes and by the end of the innings was striking at a rate of 217.24. Her knock eventually pushed Heat to a competitive total of 153 for the loss of five wickets.
Chasing 154, Renegades were off to a flier as they raced to 53 in the power play. They lost only one wicket of Sophie Molineux for 13 runs. Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont, England teammates, ticked along nicely and kept the required rate in check. Wyatt blasted 40 off just 18 deliveries to take Renegades to a position of real strength. However, Heat came strongly back into the match by removing four quick wickets in space of four overs.
At that point Renegades' hopes of winning rested firmly on Jess Duffin's shoulders, but the skipper too departed for 15 runs. Maitlan Brown's unbeaten 22 took the Renegades closer but eventually, they lost by six runs as they could get only 147 for the loss of nine wickets.
In another match at Junction Oval, Scorchers cruised to victory by nine wickets against Stars. The duo of Amy Jones and Meg Lanning put on an absolute show with the bat as they added 147 runs for the opening wicket while chasing the target of 150. Earlier with the ball, Samantha Betts picked up three wickets to restrict Stars' innings.
Sent in to bat Stars started steadily courtsey a 50-run stand between Lizelle Lee and Elyse Villani. Scorchers, at last, had a wicket in the ninth over when Lee was dismissed for 24 runs. Mignon du Preez's quickfire 38 runs of 22 balls gave the innings much needed impetus while Villani's 59 enabled Stars to finish on 149 for 6.
Chasing 150, Scorchers raced to 53 without loss in the power play. Amy Jones and Meg Lanning played some delectable cover drives and cut shots to bring the target down below 100. At the halfway stage Scorchers reached 78 and had not even broken a sweat. Jones was the first to reach her fifty off 39 balls, and Lanning followed suite with a half-century off 46 balls.
Just when it looked like the duo would achieve the target unconquered, Jones was dismissed for 70, caught by Villani off the bowling of Annabel Sutherland. However, Natalie Sciver's searing straight drive meant there were no more stutters as Scorchers romped home by nine wickets.
Elsewhere at North Dalton Park in Wollongong, Strikers downed Thunder by six wickets. Sophie Devine's allround show was the highlight of the victory. First with the ball her economical spell of one for 21 restricted Thunder to 112 and then with the bat she remained unbeaten on 62 to take Strikers home.
Opting to bat first, Thunder's innings never really took off. Rachel Priest's 31 and Tahlia Wilson's 26 came a bit slower than expected as Strikers bowlers didn't bowl too many freebies. Rachael Haynes' unbeaten knock 33 off 27 balls took Thunder past 100 and they eventually finished with 112 for 4. Strikers' bowling unit was at its miserly best, refusing to let Thunder off the hook.
Chasing a modest target of 113, Devine led the way once again with her fifth consecutive half-century. She first shared a half-century stand with skipper
Suzie Bates at the top of the order, before steadying a middle-order collapse triggered by Nida Dar's 2 for 24, to make sure her team got over the line.
In the final match of the day at North Sydney Oval, Hurricanes went past Sixers by five wickets. Belinda Vakarewa's four wickets and Nicola Carey's unbeaten 55 were instrumental in Hurricanes' registering their maiden victory over Sixers.
Opting to bat first Sixers were rocked early in the power play by an inspired spell by Vakarewa. The right-arm seamer dismissed Hollie Armitage, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner and Erin Burns in quick succession to give the visitors the upper hand.
The resurrection of the innings came via a 56-run partnership between
Marizanne Kapp and Lauren Smith. The former's unbeaten 55 off 40 balls and Dane van Niekerk's cameo of 17 off 9 balls eventfully pushed Sixers to 134 for 7.
Chasing 135, Hurricanes were also off to a disastrous start just like the Sixers. Inside the power play the purple army were reduced to 22 for 4. Kapp was at it again, this time with ball in hand, picking up three out of the four wickets.
The rebuilding of the innings was done by Nicola Carey and Corinne Hall. The duo added 69 runs for the fifth wicket before Sixers broke the partnership when Hall was brilliantly caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Burns for 28. Carey remained unbeaten on 55 to finish off the chase in the company of Chloe Tryon, who blasted 29 off 12 balls including consecutive sixes off Kapp to seal the game.
Brief Scores: Brisbane Heat 153
/5 in 20 overs (Jess Jonassen 63* Maddy Green 32; Georgia Wareham 2-27, Molly Strano 2-39) beat
Melbourne Renegades 147/9 in 20 overs (Danni Wyatt 40, Maitlan Brown 22*; Sammy-Jo Johnson 2-30) by six runs.
PoM: Jess Jonassen
.Melbourne Stars 149/6 in 20 overs (Elyse Villani 59, Mignon du Preez 38; Samantha Betts 3-21, Heather Graham 2-23) lost to
Perth Scorchers 151/1 in 19.1 overs (Amy Jones 70, Meg Lanning 68*) by nine wickets.
PoM: Amy Jones
.Sydney Thunder 112/4 in 20 overs (Rachael Haynes 33*, Rachel Priest 31) lost to
Adelaide Strikers 113/4 in 19.1 overs (Sophie Devine 62*, Suzie Bates 22; Nida Dar 2-24) by six wickets.
PoM: Sophie Devine
.Sydney Sixers 137/7 in 20 overs (Marizanne Kapp 55*; Belinda Vakarewa 4-21) lost to
Hobart Hurricanes 139/5 in 18.2 overs (Nicola Carey 55*, Chloe Tryon 29*; Marizanne Kapp 3-23) by five wickets.
PoM: Belinda Vakarewa.
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