The 48th Match of the Weber WBBL 07 was a Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder encounter played on Wednesday, 17th November 2021 at the Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay in Australia.
It is also known as the 2021–22 Women’s Big Bash League, is in its seventh season. And is being played from 14th October to 27th November 2021, with eight teams and a total of 59 matches.
Line-Up for Melbourne Renegades vs Sydney Thunder – WBBL 07
Thunder XI: Smriti Mandhana, Tahlia Wilson (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Corinne Hall, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Deepti Sharma, Hannah Darlington (wk), Issy Wong, Lauren Smith, Kate Peterson, Sam Bates #WBBL07
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 17, 2021
Sydney Thunder Women won the toss and elected to bowl.
Melbourne Renegades Innings
There was an early setback for Melbourne Renegades as they lost two wickets in quick succession.They lost both Jemimah Rodrigues and Carly Leeson back in the pavilion and were 9/2 in 1.6 overs.
However, a 91 run partnership between Evelyn Jones and Harmanpreet Kaur saved the innings for the Renegades. Jones departed playing a fine knock of 42 (off 33 balls), where she had hit seven boundaries. Renegades were 100/3 (13.1 overs).
Meanwhile, in the last ball of the innings, Jess Duffin was run out on 33 (off 22 balls). Whereas, Harmanpreet Kaur on 81* (off 55 balls) remained unbeaten. Kaur’s innings had a total of 13 boundaries. Melbourne Renegades finished their innings at 175/4 (20 overs).
Sydney Thunder’s Target is 176 Runs
For the Sydney Thunder, they had lost only one wicket in the powerplay during the run-chase. As Sammy-Jo Johnson got out, with Harmanpreet Kaur picking the wicket. Sydney Thunder were 31/1 in 4.6 overs.
Meanwhile, after the first six overs, they were 46/1. However, another wicket of Phoebe Litchfield, just after the powerplay, with Ella Hayward takes an excellent catch, swung the tide for the Renegades. With that, Thunder were 46/2 (6.1 overs).
Smriti Mandhana reaches her century, carrying the run-chase on her shoulders.
Harmanpreet Kaur was given the final over. Sydney Thunder required 8 runs to win off the last 2 balls. However, Mandhana survived as her catch was dropped, and ran for two. Thus, the scenario changed to 6 needed off the last ball.
Mandhana tries to hit big off Kaur’s bowling, but couldn’t. Mandhana on 114* (off 64 balls) & Tahlia Wilson on 38* (off 39 balls) remained unbeaten. Sydney Thunder finished their innings at 171/2 (20 overs). With this knock, Smriti Mandhana had equalled Ashleigh Gardner’s record for the highest WBBL score ever.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur won it with both bat & ball for the Renegades – as she emerged as the hero for her team
As a result, Melbourne Renegades Women won the match by 4 runs. Hence, the Player of the Match was, however, awarded to Sydney Thunder’s Smriti Mandhana – 114* (off 64 balls).
Despite Smriti Mandhana's record-equalling knock, Harmanpreet Kaur powered the @RenegadesWBBL to a narrow victory in Mackay!
Scorecard: https://t.co/e5UVmR8Ekj #WBBL07 pic.twitter.com/FVZhWnrzTy
— Weber Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) November 17, 2021
