That brings an end to our coverage for this game. Keep joining us for more cricketing action all around the globe. For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Wali Parvez and scorer Zeeshan Naiyer. Tata. Bye Bye.
Player of the Match: Lizelle Lee
4:30 PM IST and 10 PM Local Time: That’s it. A comprehensive victory for the Hobart Hurricanes Women as they beat the Melbourne Renegades Women by 93 runs to keep themselves alive in the competition. The stage was set by Lizelle Lee’s brilliant ton before their bowlers stepped up and completed an outstanding display with the ball in hand to win big tonight in front of their home crowd.
Chasing a mammoth 213 was always going to be an uphill task for the Renegades Women. Opener Tammy Beaumont hit three boundaries and raced to 16 off 10 balls before Shabnim Ismail ended her stay at the crease. Harmanpreet Kaur departed without troubling the scorers as the Renegades Women’s scorecard at the end of the powerplay read 29/2. Ismail picked up her second wicket by dismissing Georgia Prestwidge on nine.
Hayley Matthews tried to resurrect the innings and scored 14 but fell in the ninth over while trying to up the ante. Courtney Webb also departed on five in the same over. Emma de Broughe played a fantastic knock for the Renegades Women. She hit some lusty blows and kept the Hurricanes Women at bay in the middle overs.
de Broughe along with Georgia Wareham put 46 between them before the latter was cleaned up on 14. The lower-order batters faltered in the end as the Renegades Women got bundled out on 119 in 16.2 overs to lose the game by 93 runs. de Broughe was left stranded at the other end on 40* off 19 balls. Maisy Gibson registered figures of 4/25 in her 3.2 overs. Amy Smith also grabbed three scalps as they completed a dominant performance with the ball in hand.
Earlier, Melbourne Renegades Women won the toss and opted to bowl first. The decision backfired as the Hobart Hurricanes Women got off to a flying start, thanks to their skipper Elyse Villani and Lizelle Lee. Both played some beautiful strokes and scored at a brisk rate. Both put 55 between them in five overs before Georgia Wareham dismissed Villani on 22. Bryony Smith was sent back packing on a two-ball duck in the same over. Nicola Carey joined by Lee and led the recovery work for the Hurricanes Women.
Lee was going strong from one end and brought up her fifty off 33 balls. She along with Carey stitched a 55-run stand for the third wicket before Carey fell on 23-ball 24. Heather Graham joined by Lee. Graham came out all guns blazing and took down the Renegades attack with some scintillating strokeplay. The Renegades Women didn’t have any answers to the onslaught from Lee and Graham. Lee brought up her third WBBL hundred in the last over. She got to the milestone in just 52 balls. Graham also hit some lusty blows to bring up her fifty off 27 balls. Lee and Graham remained unbeaten on 101 and 55 respectively as their unbeaten 47-ball 102* stand helped the Hurricanes post a mammoth 212 on the board. 71 runs were scored in the last five overs as it propelled them to their highest total in WBBL history. Wareham picked up two wickets for the Renegades Women but the others went on a journey and it was too much to do for their batters as they suffered a heavy loss.
W BOWLED!! That's that and it's the Hurricanes that have secured the win. Gibson pulls her length at off, Kennedy rocks to her back foot as she looks to punch that but gets beaten by the pace of it. The ball eventually goes onto hit the stumps and that's Gibson's fourth wicket of the day.
16.1 M Gibson to Broughe
1 Gibson loops the ball at off and that's been driven hard to the bowler who puts it down and that leads to a single.
W OUT! CAUGHT! Third wicket of the over for Smith. She bowls a half-tracker at off, Coyte looks to power this over cover but doesn't get the timing right as the fielder at cover takes a comfortable catch.
15.5 A Smith to S Coyte
2 Tosses the ball at off and that's been lofted towards the long-off region for two runs.
15.4 A Smith to S Coyte
0 Bowls it short and at middle as that's been defended off the back foot.
W BOWLED!! Two in two for Smith as she tosses the ball up at middle, Dooley comes down the wicket as she looks to nudge this towards leg but gets beaten. The balls eventually crashes onto the stump and Smith is now on a hat-trick!