Renegades come on top in a thrilling encounter against Scorchers

In a thrilling encounter that saw the match ebb and flow till the end, Melbourne Renegades came on top against Perth Scorchers by four wickets at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Wednesday (October 23).

Chasing a modest target of 133, Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont got Renegades off to a good start by putting on 48 runs for the second wicket. Scorchers came back in the match by picking up some late wickets. But Josephine Dooley's unbeaten 17 runs saw them win in the last over of the innings.

Renegades won the toss and elected to field first. Scorchers got off to a poor start as Lea Tahuhu struck in her first over sending Meg Lanning, Scorchers skipper, for just two. Tahuhu got the ball to seam a bit and all Lanning could do was get a thick outside edge which was caught by the wicketkeeper, Dooley.

Amy Jones was then joined by Sciver and the duo began rebuilding the innings. Sciver struck the first boundary of the innings by pulling a short ball from Maitlan Brown. At the other end, Tahuhu was steaming in and gave just three runs of her first two overs.

Jones offered a chance on eight but Molly Strano failed to latch to an easy catch and Tahuhu was the unlucky bowler. To rub salt into her wounds, Jones then struck a boundary the very next ball. Scorchers eventually finished the power play on 29.

After the completion of power play, Sciver accelerated a bit and took on the bowlers. She brought the Scorchers fifty in the eight over. Jones lived a charmed life as she got dropped off the bowling of Georgia Wareham on 24. The duo brought the 50 runs partnership and were looking good. Jones struck two back to back sixes of Wareham and started to dominate the spinner. At the 11 over mark Scorchers raced to 80.

Renegades finally struck with a wicket when they removed Jones for 44. The wicketkeeper-batter tried to come down the track and whack one over mid-wicket but failed to clear the field as the 76-run partnership was broken. Renegades came back strongly after the wicket of Jones and strung some tight overs. They were rewarded with the scalp of Bolton for 11 as Molineux struck in the 16th over.

Sciver's late flourish, enabled Scorchers to reach 132 for five on their completion of 20 overs. She finished undefeated on 55 with six fours.

In reply, Renegades openers Wyatt and Sophie Molineux got off to a scratchy start as they were dropped on 0 and 3 respectively. Kim Garth and Piepa Cleary were the unlucky bowlers. Scorchers again grassed an easy chance as Emma King dropped a caught and bowled chance of Wyatt.

Molineux was the attacking batter of the two as Wyatt struggled for timing at the other end. In the process, she crossed 1000 career runs for the Renegades, becoming the first to do so. Molineux's cameo of 24 ended when she failed to clear mid-on as Cleary struck in the sixth over. Renegades finished the power play on 35.

Wyatt broke the shackles by smacking two sixes of Jemma Barsby's eighth over as Renegades brought their fifty up.

Beaumont put on a show at the end by playing three-lap shorts over first slip's head. At the halfway stage Renegades were placed at 76 and the English pair looked set to take their team home. Scorchers finally had the wicket of Beaumont as Bolton struck to send the batter for 25. The old cliche of one brings another came true as Wyatt was out, with Barsby picking up her wicket for 31.

Wickets continued to tumble for Renegades as Scorchers stifled the run-flow and picked up wickets regularly as well. But Dooley stayed calm in the end to take Renegades home.

Brief scores:

Perth Scorchers 132/5 in 20 overs (Natalie Sciver 55*, Amy Jones 44; Molly Strano 2-27) lost to Melbourne Renegades 133/6 in 19.1 overs (Danielle Wyatt 31, Tammy Beaumont 25; Piepa Cleary 2-28, Jemma Barsby 2-22) by four wickets.