Ruth Johnston

Abhishek Singh ∙ 19 Oct 2021

WBBL 2021 | Rachel Priest’s blistering century powers Hurricanes to maiden victory

It was a day to remember for Hobart Hurricanes Women skipper Rachel Priest as she became the third New Zealand woman after Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine to hit a century in the Women’s Big Bash League history. It was courtesy of her century that Hurricanes Women got to their first-ever win in the WBBL 2021. Batting first after losing the toss, Hurricanes didn’t really have a good start and wickets kept falling at regular intervals even as Preist kept the other end occupied and runs flew from her bat. In fact, the other three batters in the top four apart from Priest couldn’t even get to double figures. At 39-3, it seemed like this game would be heading in a similar trajectory with Hurricanes falling for a low total. But Nicola Carey handed in with her captain as Priest made sure that her sermons were heard loud and clear in all directions of the ground in the form of fours and sixes. The Kiwi woman reached her fifty in 41 balls. Once Carey was gone, Naomi Stalenberg did good enough to accompany her 36-year-old senior partner as she reached her hundred, becoming the first woman from the Hurricanes side to reach that milestone. She accumulated her last fifty runs in just 26 balls and in her entire knock, hit 10 fours and seven sixes. Hurricanes reached 152-4 in the end as Priest remained unbeaten on 107. The Melbourne Stars Women lost the plot early in the chase and were 3-2 in the first three overs. After that, it was hard for the team in green to come back as they rolled over for 89 in the 20th over. Skipper Meg Lanning top-scored for stars with her 25 while Ruth Johnston was the top wi ket taker for Hurricanes, ending her spell with figures of 4-8 in 3.2 overs.