Rachel Priest led Hobart Hurricanes from the front with a magnificent century, helping them beat Melbourne Stars by 63 runs on Tuesday (October 19). An unbeaten half-century from Georgia Redmayne followed by a clinical bowling performance meant that Brisbane Heat got the better of Perth Scorchers by 59 runs.Put into bat by the Stars, Priest and Ruth Johnston started well for Hurricanes. The former took on Stars' bowlers, smashing boundaries off Tess Flintoff and Kim Garth. However, Annabel Sutherland took a brilliant catch at long-off to dismiss Johnston. The allrounder came on to bowl in the very next over and got rid of Mignon du Preez. Indian prodigy Richa Ghosh, too, did not last long as she got out to the 21-year-old Sutherland for two runs from ten balls. The Hurricanes were three down with just 39 runs on the board after seven overs. Joined by Nicola Carey, Priest launched a calculated counterattack, building a partnership with the new batter. She hit Rhys McKenna for two fours and a six in an over. The duo played out good deliveries while maximising the runs from the bad ones. Priest smashed two more sixes off Sophie Day before Carey got out for a 19-ball 14.The skipper, however, kept the innings going and went berserk in the final overs. The Hurricanes scored 21 runs in the penultimate over by Kim Garth. Priest brought up her century with back-to-back boundaries off Linsey Smith, finishing with an unbeaten 107 from 68 balls. The Hurricanes made 152 for four from their 20 overs.Criticism of Ellyse Perry has been “over the top”, says Ben Sawyer
Chasing over seven and a half runs per over, Stars lost wickets in quick succession to Molly Strano, who sent both the openers back to the pavilion. She took a brilliant catch to get rid of Maia Bouchier, leaving Meg Lanning to fight a lone battle. The Stars captain tried to forge a partnership with Kim Garth, but Johnston ran through the Stars lower middle-order along with Carey. The duo took six wickets between them as Stars were all out for 89 in 19.2 overs. Johnston was the star with the ball, taking four for eight in 3.2 overs.Meanwhile, Redmayne and Grace Harris got Heat off to a good start against Scorchers. They added 68 runs in 7.5 overs before the latter was trapped on the pads by Sophie Devine for 34 runs off 30 balls. Redmayne continued her good form, building a partnership with Georgia Voll.Improved depth, competition for spots and a search for balance: England’s summer of 2021
Together, they added 44 runs for the second wicket. Once Voll got out, Heather Graham and Alana King picked up a few wickets to reduce Heat to 145 for five in 18.5 overs. Heat skipper Jess Jonassen smashed a six-ball 19, taking the team to 162 for five in 20 overs. Redmayne finished with an unbeaten 59 from 52 balls. Graham was the pick of the bowlers, taking two wickets for just 15 runs in her four overs. Coming on the back of a Super Over win against Heat in their previous encounter, Scorchers lost Beth Mooney for a first-ball duck. Devine and Chamari Atapattu tried to make the most of the power play, smashing 14 runs off Nadine de Klerk in the third over. Jonassen brought herself on to break the partnership and reaped rewards immediately when Atapattu tried to slog-sweep her over deep mid-wicket and was caught by Anneke Bosch on the boundary. Devine and Marizanne Kapp fell one after the other, leaving the Scorchers stranded at 56 for three.Though Graham held fort at one end, Poonam Yadav dismissed Chloe Piparo for just ten. With Mathilda Carmichael, Graham tried to keep the chase going, but Harris dismissed her for 17 runs. Scorchers did not recover from that blow and were eventually bowled out for 103 in 17.2 overs. Nicola Hancock and Harris led the Heat bowling attack, taking three wickets each. Brief Scores: Hobart Hurricanes 152/4 in 20 overs (Rachel Priest 107*; Annabel Sutherland 2/22) beat Melbourne Stars 89 all out in 19.2 overs (Meg Lanning 25; Ruth Johnston 4/8) by 63 runs. POTM: Rachel PriestBrisbane Heat 162/5 in 20 overs (Georgia Redmayne 59; Heather Graham 2/15) beat Perth Scorchers 103/10 in 17.2 overs (Sophie Devine 18; Grace Harris 3/16) by 59 runs. POTM: Georgia Redmayne
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