Lanning, Villani guide Perth Scorchers to a convincing win over Thunder

Perth Scorchers claimed another two valuable points by triumphing over Sydney Thunder by 6 wickets at Lilac Hill Park, Perth.

Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field first. Putting Sydney Thunder into bat, Scorchers' decision didn't go with their plans as openers Rachel Priest and Rachael Haynes got off a good start. Both of them accelerated the innings from the third over when they started hitting boundaries all over the park. By the end of the powerplay, Thunder were 68/0.

However, just after the completion of the powerplay, Piepa Cleary made the first breakthrough for Scorchers by claiming Priest's wicket on 43; who tried to pull a short delivery but missed. Naomi Stalenberg was next to follow; who tried to flick but ended up giving a catch to Lanning at short extra cover off Peschel in the 8th over.

However, Haynes and Harmanpreet Kaur tried to steady the ship and added 34 runs. Haynes scored a half-century before getting dismissed by Bolton. Her dismissal brought captain Alex Blackwell at the crease but she couldn't contribute much. She fell for a mere 2 while Lanning took a sharp short extra cover catch. From there on, Harmanpreet Kaur continued to accelerate the innings and was supported by Stafanie Taylor from the other end. Kaur started dealing in sixes and scored a quickfire 45 off 29 before her dismissal by Kate Cross. Taylor and Nicola Carey added another 13 runs and guided their team to a daunting total of 179/5.

Chasing such a big total, Scorchers openers Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani got off to a flying start. Lanning started hitting boundaries all over the ground and smashed another half-century within the powerplay. Her quickfire innings helped them to score 63 after 6 overs. Both added 93 runs in a steady association before Lanning got dismissed. Soon, Amy Jones joined her after scoring 13 off 9. Heather Graham too followed her and soon they were reduced to 140/3.

Bolton joined Villani and both tried to build a partnership but the former got dismissed while 11 runs were needed to win the match in 9 balls. Lauren Ebsary hit a deep extra cover boundary off Nicola Carey and equalled the run and ball in the last over. Villani played a steady inning of 66 off 50 along with Ebsary's 9 off 6 and both guided Scorchers to another win with 1 ball to spare.