Skipper Ashleigh Gardner and No.1 draft pick Sophia Dunkley helped the Sixers thrash the Scorchers by 10 wickets
Aussie superstar Ashleigh Gardner has demolished Perth Scorchers in her first outing as Sydney Sixers skipper as her side kicked off Weber WBBL|11 with a comprehensive 10-wicket win.
Gardner scythed through the Scorchers batting line-up with a WBBL career-best 5-15 after Perth counterpart Sophie Devine opted to bat first at the WACA Ground on Sunday.
Devine was Gardner’s first scalp of the evening, somewhat fortuitously as wicketkeeper Emma Manix-Geeves fumbled a stumping chance that rebounded off her body and onto the stumps while the New Zealand allrounder was out of her ground.
Devine hung around in bemusement even after being given out by the third umpire, with television replays showing Manix-Geeves’ gloves perilously close to the stumps when the ball clearly dislodged the bail first.
Gardner had her second wicket the very next delivery as English Big Bash debutant Paige Scholfield offered the Sixers’ spinner the simplest of return catches.
Scholfield’s compatriot Freya Kemp survived the hat-trick ball in her own WBBL debut and contributed 16 in a partnership of 39 with Mikayla Hinkley (31) as the pair tried in vain to rebuild the hosts’ innings.
Hinkley’s dismissal to Ellyse Perry triggered a collapse of 3-0, with Perry also claiming two wickets in consecutive balls as Chloe Ainsworth fell lbw for a golden duck.
Kemp became Garnder’s third victim when she returned for another spell as the Scorchers slumped from 4-83 to 7-83 and then 109 all out in the final over, losing their last six wickets for 26 runs.
The Sixers captain took two of those final three wickets in her maiden Big Bash five-wicket haul, as teenage sensation Caoimhe Bray put the Scorchers out of their misery with a spectacular one-handed grab diving back with the flight of the ball.
Bowler Maitlan Brown’s jaw-dropping reaction said it all as Bray plucked Amy Edgar’s thick outside edge (that seemed destined to result in a streaky boundary to deep third) out of thin air to end the innings with three balls still remaining.
Opener Beth Mooney was the home side’s second top scorer with 20, hitting back-to-back fours either side of deep square leg before picking out mid-off very next ball off Lauren Cheatle (1-24) to depart in the fifth over.
The Sixers’ chase was a procession as English batter and No.1 draft pick Sophia Dunkley (61 not out off 40 balls) blasted five sixes in her first game for her new club having previously played for Melbourne Stars in WBBL|09.
Sixers stalwart Ellyse Perry played a fine supporting act with an unbeaten 47 featuring nine boundaries as the pair reached their target with a whooping 43 balls to spare without offering a chance.
The thumping 10-wicket win gives the Sixers a huge net run rate boost (3.277) and takes the Gardner’s side to the top of the WBBL|11 standings after the opening day triple-header.
And they’ll potentially welcome back Alyssa Healy for their second match against Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday after the Australian wicketkeeper missed their season opener with a broken thumb.
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
SIX
1
1
0
0
0
3.277
0
2
2
REN
1
1
0
0
0
0.675
0
2
3
HUR
1
1
0
0
0
0.283
0
2
4
STR
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
STA
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
THU
1
0
1
0
0
-0.283
0
0
7
HEA
1
0
1
0
0
-0.675
0
0
8
SCO
1
0
1
0
0
-3.277
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
