WBBL: Adelaide Strikers cruise to convincing and clinical win over Melbourne Renegades
The Adelaide Strikers put on a batting, bowling and fielding masterclass in their opening game of the Women’s Big Bash. And to top it all off? There was a marriage proposal!
Cricket
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cricket. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Sometimes fairy tales really do happen and Adelaide Strikers’ six-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades to kickstart their WBBL05 campaign surely qualifies as a sporting fairy tale.
Not only did big-hitting opener Sophie Devine live up to her “smash sisters” moniker; inswinger Megan Schutt became the first female Striker to notch up 50 big bash wickets with a spectacular caught and bowled; and debutant Katie Mack hit the winning runs with back-to-back boundaries, but a new Strikers star was born.
West Indian captain Stafanie Taylor, having previously played for Sydney Thunder, sizzled in her new bright blue colours, taking a wicket with her first ball and notching up a handy 21 with the bat.
Watch every match of the WBBL/05 LIVE & On-Demand with KAYO SPORTS. Get your 14-day free trial & start stream instantly>
After winning the “bat toss” and sending the visitors into bat on Karen Rolton Oval, the Strikers put on a clinical bowling display, which saw the ‘Gades crash to 4/21 after six overs after Taylor took two wickets in her first over.
So, this just happened!!! 😃
— AdelaideStrikersWBBL (@StrikersWBBL) October 19, 2019
Congrats @amandajadew and Tayler! 👠#BlueEnergy #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/4UzTFtHz6E
Renegades captain Jess Duffin was brave and gave the visitors some respectability with her 44 from 32 balls and after Josie Dooley survived a tight run out decision, she was unbeaten on 20 (19).
But on a wicket like K-Rol, it was questionable whether 7/117 from 20 overs was ever going to be enough.
Devine ended with figures of 1/16, while Schutt’s 2/13 were impressive. But it was Taylor’s 3/26 that put her into player of the match contention.
After the game Taylor said she was nervous coming in the game and had barely slept the night before.
“It was nice to start off on a good note, my first wicket for the Strikers really set the tone and I reckon that throughout the game I was just bubbly,” she said.
“I’m definitely comfortable (in this team) and I must say that I really love blue, it is my favourite colour and when I signed with Strikers … I don’t think you can ever go wrong with blue.”
In reply, Strikers’ opening batters - the “smash sister” pairing of Devine and Suzie Bates - couldn’t get going against the startling pace of their Kiwi compatriot Lea Tahuhu.
Tahuhu’s first over had the Karen Rolton crowd with eyes wide open and eyebrows raised with how fast she could bowl.
In her first over - a maiden - she had Bates caught behind on two and the four balls later had Tahlia McGrath out in the same fashion for a duck: it’s not often a bowler has figures of 2/0.
When Maitlan Brown bowled Bridget Patterson for 11, the plot thickened with the Strikers suddenly on the ropes, sitting at 3/32 at the end of the fifth over.
But Devine - who last WBBL season became the highest run-maker of any Striker female or male - then lived up to her “smash sister” reputation building a match-winning innings. She belted four sixes and three fours to reach her 50 in only 29 balls.
Supporting her down the other end was Taylor and the two compiled a 62-run partnership before Taylor was caught at cover by Duffin for 21 (23 balls), with the Strikers at 4/94.
Her wicket brought fellow Strikers debutant Mack to the crease, who brought up the winning runs with back-to-back fours in the 16th over. Devine’s unbeaten 72 (45) handed her the player of the match accolade.
The Strikers play the Renegades again on Sunday afternoon and Devine said there was still room for improvement.
“There’s always things to work on, I think we probably let them get away a little bit too much in the middle there, Jess Duffin batted really well and she’s a quality player and we need to look at how we can restrict them and then tie them down even under 100 ... but a complete performance today and we’ll look to back it up tomorrow,” she said.
This win was clinical, convincing and showed perfectly that the squad new coach Luke Williams has assembled could challenge anyone.
And then the perfect game only got sweeter when the boyfriend of legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, Tayler McKechnie, proposed to her in front of the crowd and her teammates. And of course “Wello” said yes! After all, this was a day for fairy tale endings.
* Strikers v Renegades, Sunday, October 20, Karen Rolton Oval from 2pm. Entry is free.