Georgia Wareham smashed an unbeaten 73 from 31 balls to lift the Melbourne Renegades to 3-188, and the Adelaide Strikers were held to 8-152 as the home side won Match 13 of WBBL|12 by 36 runs at Junction Oval.
Quick Score Summary
Melbourne Renegades 3-188 (20 overs): Georgia Wareham 73* (31), Courtney Webb 52* (42), Hayley Matthews 49 (32). Adelaide Strikers bowling: Amanda-Jade Wellington 1-43, Tahlia McGrath 1-22, Anesu Mushangwe 1-21.
Adelaide Strikers 8-152 (20 overs): Maia Bouchier 54 (38), Emma de Broughe 27 (24), Sophie Ecclestone 20 (13). Melbourne Renegades bowling: Milly Illingworth 3-29, Tayla Vlaeminck 2-16, Georgia Wareham 1-27, Hayley Matthews 1-21.
Result: Melbourne Renegades won by 36 runs. Toss: Adelaide Strikers, elected to bowl. Player of the Match: Georgia Wareham
With three overs left the Renegades were in a strong position. When those three overs were done, the game was effectively over. Wareham and Courtney Webb had spent the middle of the innings building a platform, and the finish came exactly as planned: 53 runs from the last 18 balls, with Wareham launching Amanda-Jade Wellington for three huge sixes in an 18th over that cost 24.
It was the payoff for a patient partnership. The Strikers won the toss and bowled, and for a while the Renegades’ innings belonged to Hayley Matthews. Olivia Porter fell for 2 in the fifth over, hitting a Wellington full toss off the inside half of the bat to Sophie Ecclestone at midwicket, but by then Matthews already had the scoreboard moving.
Matthews kept finding the boundary, ten times in all, and the Strikers’ attack never really built any pressure on her. She looked set for a half-century until, on 49 from 32 balls, she sliced a square drive at head height to Laura Wolvaardt at point, giving Anesu Mushangwe her first wicket of the day.
The Strikers’ best passage came next. Tahlia McGrath came around the wicket to Sophie Molineux, who stepped across to ramp, missed and lost her off stump for 7. At 3-79 in the 11th over, the visitors had a chance to drag the total back towards par.
Webb and Wareham shut that door. Their 50 partnership came from steady running at a good rate, setting them up for a big finish. Webb’s unbeaten 52 from 42 balls was an anchor’s innings that gave her partner licence to attack. The unbroken stand was worth 109 from just 58 balls.
Wareham’s 73 not out came with six fours and four sixes, at a strike rate of 235. She is a class lower-order player, and she has grown from a leg-spinner who could bat into a true all-rounder. She was crowned WBBL|11 Player of the Tournament, and the form she carried through The Hundred earlier in the year has come with her into this summer.
The Strikers had one chance to stop her. On 59, in the final over, Wareham hit Ecclestone towards deep midwicket, and Madeline Penna came in off the boundary but the ball went straight through her hands. Coming so late, the drop did little extra damage. The bigger problem was the spin. Ecclestone (0-42) and Wellington (1-43) both went at more than ten an over, and Megan Schutt’s four overs cost 36. A total of 188 felt like a very good score.
The Strikers’ chase started with a reprieve. Emma de Broughe, on 7, stepped a long way across and was given out lbw to Molineux, but she sent it upstairs straight away. The replay showed a very small spike as the ball passed the glove, and the decision was overturned.
At the other end Tayla Vlaeminck was bowling with genuine pace, nudging past 120 km/h in her first over, while Milly Illingworth’s opening over was a wild one, with a bit of everything (short, wide and full) for 17 runs. De Broughe and Maia Bouchier made the most of it and put on 67 for the first wicket.
Then the momentum turned in a handful of balls. De Broughe top-edged a pull off Deandra Dottin, and Matthews, running back from short fine leg, put down the catch. The Strikers tried to turn the drop into three runs, but a mix-up left both batters at the same end, and de Broughe was run out for 27. In the next over Wolvaardt drove Wareham on the up and picked out Molineux at cover for 2. At 2-76 after 9.5 overs, the required rate was above 11 and the chase had become a tough one.
Bouchier kept them in it, reaching 50 from 34 balls in a really nice innings full of good boundaries.
Illingworth ended that hope. Her first ball of the 13th over was a perfect full slower ball, with a hint of inswing, on the stumps; Bouchier stepped across to work it fine, missed, and was bowled for 54. Five balls later McGrath heaved her to deep midwicket, where Wareham took the catch, and the Strikers’ captain was gone for 8. After going for 17 in her first over, Illingworth finished with 3-29.
Vlaeminck finished the job. Bridget Patterson (16) hit her straight up to Molineux at mid-off, and two balls later Wellington stepped back to carve through the off side, missed, and was bowled for a duck. Vlaeminck’s 2-16 from four overs, including a maiden, was the tightest spell of the day. Penna (12) smashed a short ball from Illingworth straight to Webb at deep square leg, who didn’t have to move. Ecclestone drove Matthews straight down the ground in the air and was dropped by Chloe Tryon, then fell to the last ball of the match for 20, pulling a short one straight to Tryon at mid-on.
For the Renegades, this was the complete performance they needed. It took them to two wins from four games, and they will want to tidy up the two dropped catches. For the Strikers, now one from three, the worry is how expensive their spinners were. The positives are Bouchier’s form and an opening stand that showed the top order can handle a big chase.
The Renegades stay at Junction Oval to host the Sydney Sixers on Thursday 12 November. The Strikers head to Hobart to face the Hurricanes at Ninja Stadium on Tuesday 10 November.
