Tess Flintoff whacked the fastest 50 in WBBL history

Cricket’s return to North Sydney Oval went off with a bang as a teenage star scored the fastest 50 in WBBL history.

We saw plenty of brutal knocks by Andrew Flintoff during his incredible career, but the Englishman can’t hold a light to what Tess Flintoff did for the Melbourne Stars on Wednesday afternoon.

Facing a strong Strikers attack, the big-hitting all-rounder went ballistic at North Sydney Oval to smash the fastest 50 in WBBL history off just 16 deliveries to propel the struggling Stars to 5/186.

Flintoff, who is no relation to the England great, entered the match having scored 49 runs from three previous at bats this season, while she’d only ever hit one six in 45 WBBL matches.

THE FASTEST FIFTY IN WBBL HISTORY!

Tess Flintoff just whacked 51no from 16 balls 😯 #WBBL08pic.twitter.com/p7UvcT1D64

— Weber Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) November 2, 2022

But she shattered those numbers at the picturesque venue, blasting three sixes and six boundaries to reach 50 on the final delivery when she whacked a Megan Schutt full toss over long on.

She was given a life earlier in the innings and then benefited from a misfield in the final over that gave her a bonus two runs before she launched her third maximum to bring up her maiden half-century.

Flintoff’s 16-ball knock is six balls faster than Ash Gardner’s previous record, while her innings also set the record for highest strike rate in a WBBL innings at 318.75.

It comes just over a week after Marcus Stoinis belted the fastest ever T20 50 for Australia, which came off 17 balls.

Originally published as Tess Flintoff whacked the fastest 50 in WBBL history