Adelaide’s Darcie Brown was almost the hero in a see-sawing night at the WACA, but the Perth Scorchers pulled through with just two balls remaining in one of the season’s most gripping conclusions
Perth Scorchers have escaped with victory over a fast-finishing Adelaide Strikers by the barest of margins, taking home a one-run victory at the WACA in a nail-biting Saturday night.
Adelaide needed 13 runs off the final over with one wicket in hand, and came agonisingly close to pulling off a miracle in the wild west courtesy of Darcie Brown’s captivating cameo of 18 off nine balls.
Just moments before, the Scorchers appeared to have the game in the bag as Amy Edgar produced a triple-wicket maiden/team hat-trick in the 16th over which saw the Strikers slump to 8-122 and forfeit their promising position in pursuit of 159.
But Brown’s flurry of boundaries in the game’s twilight unexpectedly whittled the chase down to just two runs off two balls, transforming what seemed to be a Scorchers certainty in the wake of their destructive spell with the ball into a legitimate scare.
Skipper Sophie Devine was forced to bring a fielder inside the ring due to slow over rate to add to the drama, before Brown’s leading edge off the second-last delivery was snaffled by a hard-running Beth Mooney behind the stumps.
Devine earlier starred for the home side with a clinical 49 not-out, etching her name into the competition’s record books in the process as one of just three players to score over 4000 WBBL runs behind teammate Mooney and Sydney Sixers’ Ellyse Perry.
Alongside Paige Scholfield (46 not-out off 29), the Scorchers stabilised after losing openers Katie Mack and Beth Mooney cheaply; the former in the first over off the bowling of Jemma Barsby.
Conversely, Adelaide’s frontline batters in Laura Wolvaardt (41) and Madeline Penna (36) made steady contributions with the bat before the middle order went to water.
Needing 38 runs from 27 for victory with six wickets in the shed, the Strikers dissipated with four dismissals in the space of nine balls as Amy Edgar (4-25) and Chloe Ainsworth (3-22) wreaked havoc with the Kookaburra.
The Scorchers now sit fourth on the Weber WBBL|11 ladder with a 3-3 ledger, while the Strikers’ season is hanging on by a thread with just one win to show from its five matches.
Weber WBBL|11 Standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
HUR
6
5
1
0
0
0.504
0
10
2
REN
6
4
2
0
0
0.795
0
8
3
SIX
5
3
2
0
0
-0.533
0
6
4
SCO
6
3
3
0
0
-0.616
0
6
5
STA
4
2
1
0
1
2.944
0
5
6
THU
6
2
4
0
0
-0.519
0
4
7
STR
5
1
3
0
1
0.064
0
3
8
HEA
4
0
4
0
0
-1.429
0
0
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
