By Carla Jaeger
Alyssa Healy smashed a four on the last ball of the day to carry the Sydney Sixers to a thrilling victory against the Perth Scorchers in Melbourne on Sunday. But a scintillating day’s play wasn’t finished yet, with all-rounder Annabel Sutherland going ballistic in the final over against the Melbourne Renegades, hitting three sixes to end 62 not out to lead the Stars to a five-wicket win.
After a slow start to the run chase in the Sixers’ win – Healy was just one off 10 balls – and needing 177 to better Perth’s 4-176, the star wicketkeeper and teammate Ellyse Perry amassed a 154-run stand to get their side back in the hunt.
Alyssa Healy hits a four to win the match for the Sixers.Credit: Channel Seven
Together they powered the Sixers to within 20 of the target with two overs to bowl.
“I’m absolutely cooked, but just [feeling] more pride than anything,” Healy said. “To win a game like that against a really good side ... I didn’t want to face that last ball, that’s for sure.”
After going for 17 runs off her previous over, Scorchers captain Sophie Devine had Perry (48 off 40) dismissed and Healy dropped in a fine 19th over that left the Sixers still needing 14.
Healy watched from the other end as Ash Gardner hit the first two deliveries for six.
Gardner was bowled from the next ball and Piepa Cleary was on a hat-trick after claiming Erin Burns next ball.
Nicole Bolton chipped that delivery just short of deep midwicket for a single and then, with one to win off the final delivery, Healy gave herself room and calmly dispatched the winning runs to the cover boundary, letting out a boisterous cry in the process. The Sixers finished 4-180.
Healy’s unbeaten 107 was her fifth WBBL hundred in 111 matches.
No other player has scored more than three WBBL hundreds, Healy’s century coming off 62 balls and featuring a one-handed six over mid-off.
“When a player like Healy gets going she’s bloody hard to stop,” Devine said.
Victory keeps the Sixers on top of the ladder. The Scorchers, who beat them last week, could have jumped above them from fourth with victory.
Earlier, Perth’s Beth Mooney (75no off 51) and Marizanne Kapp (68 off 37) put on 97 off 58 balls to continue their own stellar form.
Their stand came a day after combining for a devastating 123-run partnership in just 56 deliveries, Mooney also scoring an unbeaten 99 against the same opponents last week.
But Gardner (2-30 from four) helped slow them just enough, moving to the top of the competition wicket-taker’s board in the process.
Devine was full of praise for her top-order teammate Mooney.
“She’s such a class player the way she manipulates the field ... she’s a freak as well,” Devine said.
“To be brutally honest I suck at the moment ... that’s cricket sometimes, hopefully the cricket gods shine down on me soon because it’s pretty tough to be fair.”
Stars outshine Renegades at local derby
Sutherland was the stand-out performer of the Melbourne derby, smashing 62 from 29 balls to snag a victory from rival the Renegades.
After winning the bat flip, the Stars were up against the Renegades’ 148 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the second innings.
Needing 23 runs in the final over, a Renegades win was looking likely. But it was the thrilling final over that dashed any hopes from the Renegades of an upset, as a power surge from Sutherland led to 17 runs in the first four bowls. The 21-year-old went on to smash three sixes, before teammate Georgia Prestwidge hit the winning ball.
Annabel Sutherland in action.Credit: Getty
“It was tough out there. The wind was coming pretty strong from one end,” Sutherland, who hit five sixes for the match, said. “I was just glad I could hit those last couple clean because it was straight into the wind.”
Josie Dooley led the ’Gades with 54 runs at 46, a WBBL career-high for the 22-year-old. She was bowled out by Sutherland at the 19th over of the first innings.
And in another career stand-out for the Renegades, Sarah Coyte became the eighth player in the competition’s history to reach 100 wickets after bowling Tess Flintoff.
The Renegades’ chances in the final over were struck further after spin bowler Sophie Molineux’s left knee fell in delivery. She had to be helped off the field. The injury follows Monlineux’s long recovery from a stubborn foot complaint.
Sasha Moloney and Sutherland were the Stars’ best bowlers, taking four and three wickets over four overs, respectively.
Glenn Maxwell, who will be out of cricket for up to three months after breaking his leg on Saturday night, watched the upset from his hospital bed.
with AAP
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