The Thunder’s depth came to the fore as they continued their unbeaten start to Weber WBBL|12
Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat | WBBL|12
Sydney Thunder smashed their way to the highest WBBL score at Drummoyne Oval as they continued Brisbane Heat’s drought with a six-wicket win over the Queensland side.
Searching for a first victory in 12 games and 702 days stretching back to their defeat in the 2024 decider, the Heat eclipsed the previous best WBBL score of 171 at the Sydney venue, totalling an impressive 5-178.
Knight saves the day for Thunder with classy knock
But Thunder made light of their largest ever run chase reaching the target with 20 balls to spare.
Georgia Voll fell for two, but the Thunder’s other power hitters prospered against an attack which failed to execute under pressure and bowled too many loose deliveries.
Phoebe Litchfield (41 off 19) provided the early spark with some scintillating strokes and England veteran Heather Knight (54 not out off 29) paced the chase with a typically smart innings.
She put on 63 with Anika Learoyd (37 off 28) and 59 with Laura Harris (35 off 16), who was caught by her sister Grace with three needed for victory.
Thunder made it two wins from as many games.
Harris fighting flu posts hard-hitting fifty at Drummoyne
“To win at home is a key thing for us this year,'” Knight told Fox and Kayo.
“It was a belter of a pitch. We’ve probably been used to it being a little bit more harder for batters.
“Delighted to contribute as well and it’s always a nice feeling to be not out at the end.”
Earlier, Grace Harris (58 off 37) and Georgia Redmayne (57 off 44) put on 99 for the second wicket, carrying Heat to 1-118 in the 14th over.
Orla Prendergast (28 off 20) chipped in during the final overs but Brisbane couldn’t find an extra gear, with Thunder striking six more fours than the visitors.
“Their batters hit boundaries where we hit ones, so we’ve only got ourselves to blame,” Grace Harris told Fox and Kayo.
“These guys are a dynamic batting line-up so they are going to put you under the pump and they are going to hit the ball and hit hard.”
Weber WBBL|12 Standings
Round 1
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
Sydney Sixers Women
SIX
2
2
0
0
0
0
2.25
0
0
0
4
2
Sydney Thunder Women
THU
2
2
0
0
0
0
1.605
0
0
0
4
3
Perth Scorchers Women
SCO
1
1
0
0
0
0
3.422
0
0
0
2
4
Adelaide Strikers Women
STR
1
1
0
0
0
0
1.05
0
0
0
2
5
Melbourne Stars Women
STA
2
1
1
0
0
0
-0.075
0
0
0
2
6
Brisbane Heat Women
HEA
2
0
2
0
0
0
-0.891
0
0
0
0
7
Melbourne Renegades Women
REN
2
0
2
0
0
0
-2.265
0
0
0
0
8
Hobart Hurricanes Women
HUR
2
0
2
0
0
0
-2.625
0
0
0
0
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points