MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Brisbane Heat defied a tidy all-round performance from West Indies Women’s captain Hayley Matthews and clinched a six-run win against Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash Twenty20 League yesterday in Australia.
The 25-year-old was in fine form during the recent Australia vs West Indies international series, but she could only gather 20 to follow up a spell of three for 30 from four overs with her off-spin, and the Renegades failed to chase 188 in their first match of the season on home soil at Junction Oval.
Matthews, the Renegades captain, was practically a silent partner in an opening stand of 55 with England international Tammy Beaumont before they both fell in the final over of the Power Play, and Renegades stumbled to 61 for two.
England Women’s leg-spinner Sarah Glenn and uncapped off-spinner Charli Knott shared seven wickets between them, and they tightened the screws for the Heat in the face of a resilient 31 from India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur that kept the home team in the chase.
Australia international Georgia Wareham, batting at six, hit three fours and three sixes in the top score of 36 off only 16 balls for the Renegades, and she carried the fight to the Heat in the closing stages of the tense contest.
But she gave a return catch to her Australia left-arm spin bowling teammate Jess Jonassen with 14 needed off the last three balls, and Renegades failed to get over the finish line, though they still had two wickets in the hutch.
Glenn ended with four for 23 from her allotted four overs, and Knott finished with three for 33 from her four overs and earned the Player-of-the-Match award, after she earlier made 23 to breathe a bit of life into the Heat innings in the closing stages.
Matthews had earlier grabbed the wickets of Georgia Voll and South Africa international Mignon du Preez in her second over to cool the Heat after the visitors’ openers Grave Harris and Georgia Redmayne hit 49 each and shared 77 for the first wicket.
Matthews removed Redmayne in her final over – the 17th of the innings – to further slow the scoring of the Heat, but the Renegades gave away 54 inside the last five overs – though they poached five wickets – three in the final over from Australia international Sarah Coyte to face a huge chase.
