The opening game of the 12th edition of the Women’s Big Bash saw a meeting between the 2024 champions and the winners from 2016 and 2020, the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Thunder. A player of the match performance by Georgia Voll, courtesy of her actions with the bat and ball helped the two-time champions begin their campaign in the right way.
After the first 17 balls, the Renegades partnership of West Indies stalwart, Hayley Matthews, and Courtney Webb had put on just six runs. Matthews decided it was time for a boundary and sent Sam Bates for a four through the covers, beyond the reach of Phoebe Litchfield.
Matthews was extremely lucky to survive her eighth delivery. Laura Harris at Backward Point seemed in a prime position to catch the edge and got a hand to it but put it down, creating frustration for bowler Hannah Darlington who would’ve got her first wicket of the game with her first ball.
It was Darlington who got the first wicket. By the time it fell, the two at the crease had pushed on and added a total of 56 runs to their score. The batter that was eventually sent back to the shed was that of Webb. Having contributed 22, including three four’s, she sent one straight up into the air, making it an easy catch for Thunder’s wicketkeeper Tahlia Wilson.
Darlington’s day soon got even better as she claimed Matthews, whose method of hitting the ball as hard and as far as possible proved to be her downfall on 45, as on the leg side, she picked out one of the tallest fielders in the game in Bell, who made no mistake.
Georgia Voll was then given the ball and proceeded to take out her Australian captain and that of the Renegades , Sophie Molineux, for a score of only seven. Molineux’s effort down the ground was caught by another one of her international teammates and Thunder skipper, Litchfield at long-on.
Tess Flintoff was next up but only scored one and lasted three deliveries before taking on Sam Bates, she found the hands of the fielder at mid-off. Heather Knight.
Then came Voll’s spell in which she took the next three Renegades. First up was Chloe Tryon, whose outside edge was gathered by Harris, making up for her previous error. Deandra Dottin followed and was enticed into making slight contact with the ball, taking it into the gloves of Wilson.
The anchor of the latter period of the first innings, Georgia Wareham’s 23 off 19 balls, was ended in the form of cutting the ball into the hands of Harris for her second catch of the game, leaving those in red on 118/7.
That quickly became 119/8 with Nicole Faltum, with just over two overs left, pushing to come back for two but run out by Wilson. Milly Illingworth was subjected to a golden duck, like Flintoff, attempting to go for a big one but caught by Knight.
Annie Wikman and Tayla Vlaeminck managed to survive until the end of the 20 overs, and contributed 19 runs between them, leaving the Thunder chasing 139.
Clearly still in the mood, Voll opened by sending the first ball of the run chase for a maximum. She was stopped by Flintoff in the same way that she got Dottin out.
Speaking of Dottin she struck a huge blow by allowing Molineux to claim revenge on Litchfield as she caught her opposite number at mid-off.
Though Anika Learoyd was eventually knocked over by Vlaeminck, her knock of 48 and Knight’s unbeaten 29 eventually took the game beyond the Renegades.
A second wicket for the quick, a two ball duck from Harris didn’t do much to harm the Thunder’s charge. In came Nadine De Klerk, whose rapid fire 12 got her side to their target and a victory to start off their campaign and WBBL12.
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