Melbourne Stars skipper Meg Lanning credits opposition bowlers in WBBL06 final

Melbourne Stars captain Meg Lanning has credited the Sydney Thunder bowlers after they lost in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) final on Saturday (November 28). “I thought the Thunder bowled exceptionally well. Ismail and Sammy-Jo Johnson weren’t good for us really,” Lanning told reporters after their loss on Saturday.



“We had such a good tournament and to finish like that, it’s pretty hard to take to be honest.” Batting first, Stars put in their worst performance of the tournament putting only 86/9 in 20 overs. And that’s all because of Shabnim Ismail and Sammy-Jo Johnson’s bowling performances.



While the South African spearhead Ismail took 2/12 in her four overs, Johnson also matching feet by feet scalping two wickets for just 11 runs. “They bowled really well, got off to a good start and unfortunately we couldn’t get going,” Lanning added.



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She also spoke about the whole group. “It’s been a very challenging tournament. As a group we have come together, we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the job done tonight but very proud of the group and we will be back again,” said the Australian skipper.



A lot has gone into organising this tournament, especially with the COVID-19 protocols on and the bio-secure hub life. Lanning also credited the Cricket Australia officials and others.



“There are a lot of people who have made quite a lot of sacrifices to get the tournament up and running. It’s been an amazing effort from Cricket Australia and the players and internationals as well. Would have been nice to top it up with a win but wasn’t to be,” she said before adding that they would be back next year stronger.



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“We have had a really good base this year. We played some really good cricket, got a really good group together who enjoy each other’s company and want to get better. We feel like this is the start of something and we will be back again next year,” Lanning said.



Lanning also praised youngsters Sophie Day and Tess Flintoff, both of whom had a fruitful WBBL06 tourney.  “I think Sophie Day has been exceptional this year. The first season of domestic state cricket and she has been put under the pump and performed exceptionally. Looking forward to seeing her journey. Another one is Tess Flintoff, bowled some really difficult overs for us,” she concluded.