Allrounders have field day as Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Thunder register victories

Ruth Johnston's all-around performance helped Hobart Hurricanes trump Melbourne Renegades by 52 runs in the seventh edition of Women's Big Bash League on Friday (November 19).  Meanwhile, Sammy-Jo Johnson and Deepti Sharma shined for Sydney Thunder as they beat Brisbane Heat by nine runs.



Placed at the bottom of the points table, Thunder were happy to play aggressively from ball one. Smriti Mandhana and Sammy-Jo Johnson picked up boundaries with ease in the power play while keeping the scorecard moving with singles and doubles. The duo added 58 runs in 39 balls before the southpaw got out to Nadine de Klerk for 29 runs from 24 balls. 



Johnson, however, kept the momentum going with Phoebe Litchfield. The allrounder smashed 52 runs from 36 balls before getting mixed up in a runout. 



Litchfield got out a couple of balls later for a 21-ball 24 to Jess Jonassen. Deepti Sharma hit 24 runs from 21 balls, helping Thunder finish with 162 for five in 20 overs.



Chasing over eight runs over, Georgia Redmayne and Grace Harris launched an attack on the Thunder bowlers early on. They raced to 32 for nil in three overs, forcing Hannah Darlington to bring on the spinners.



Sharma and Samantha Bates did well to restrict Thunder to 52 for nil in the power play. They added another 47 runs before Harris got out for 50 runs from 34 balls. Ellie Johnston and Georgia Voll got out in quick intervals, but Redmayne kept Heat in the chase along with Mikayla Hinkley.



 When it seemed like Heat were in control of the chase, Sharma held on to a blinder at short fine-leg to get rid of the well-set Redmayne for 54 runs from 52 balls. With 20 runs required from two overs, Darlington dismissed Jonassen and Hinkley off consecutive deliveries.



Earlier, Renegades started well with the ball after putting Hurricanes in to bat first. Skipper Sophie Molineux sent back her counterpart Rachel Priest for a two-ball duck. 



Joined by Mignon du Preez, Ruth Johnston tried to build a partnership and revive the Hurricanes innings. The youngster went after the Renegades bowlers as experienced du Preez held forte at the other end. The duo brought up their respective half-centuries, setting a perfect platform for the middle-order to capitalise.



Du Preez was the first to get out for 50 runs from 46 balls to Courtney Webb. Together, they added 119 runs from 14.3 overs. The allrounder, too, fell shortly after to Harmanpreet Kaur for a 46-ball 63. 



Naomi Stalenberg smashed a 12-ball 21, taking Hurricanes to 161 for five in 20 overs. Ellie Falconer, who was taken off the attack after bowling two no balls, and Webb took two wickets each for Renegades.



Renegades, the team at the top of the points table, had an off day at the office with the bat. Evelyn Jones was the first to get out for eight runs from 11 balls to Tayla Vlaeminck. 



Jemimah Rodrigues and Webb got starts but could not convert them into a big score. Kaur, who is among the top runscorers this season, tried to up the ante with Jess Duffin. However, Ruth shined with the ball, dismissing both the experienced batters.



Ellie Falconer hit a 12-ball 24, but it was not enough for the Renegades as they were all out for 109 in 18 overs. 



Brief Scores:



Hobart Hurricanes 161/5 in 20 overs (Ruth Johnston 63; Courtney Webb 2/27) beat Melbourne Renegades 109 all out in 18 overs (Ellie Falconer 24*; Sasha Moloney 3/17) by 52 runs. 



Sydney Thunder 162/5 in 20 overs (Sammy-Jo Johnson 58; Nadine de Klerk 1/15) beat Brisbane Heat  153/9 in 20 overs (Georgia Redmayne 54; Deepti Sharma 2/21) by 9 runs.