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We now come to the end of our coverage of the first of two WBBL games today. The second one's set to get underway in a few moments - hop tabs or click right here to enjoy our coverage of the same! This is Rajarshi, signing off on behalf of Rudransh for the time being. Have a nice day!
Jess Jonassen (Player of the Match): Very happy. The carrot was dangling for the past few matches. Kerr's catch helped us turn it around. We knew there were things in our control we could tidy up. It was like the elephant in the room, the more you talked about it, the more people got tensed up. Grace Harris finally came back to the team and her words of wisdom helped.
With that outcome, we now have a third team in the playoffs, and another facing elimination. No, it's not the team that lost today, but their local rivals - the Sydney Sixers who are out of contention for the playoffs. The Thunder are still in it, though, and guess the team they'll play their last league game against? Yes - it's the Sydney Sixers - the local rivals, and the pink outfit will certainly look to spoil the Thunder party, given they need one win to claim that fourth playoff spot.
The Thunder openers - Chamari Athapaththu and Phoebe Litchfield - got them off to a strong start, fetching 47 in the first six overs. The opening partnership lasted 5 balls after that, following which Litchfield had to depart to an absolutely stunning effort on the field from Amelia Kerr, backed up equally well by Courtney Sippel. Kerr was brought back into the attack right after that, but went for 11, and the Thunder looked to keep at it.
Athapaththu needed someone to play second fiddle at the other end. Heather Knight, having played a few too many dots for her liking, threw her wicket away with a rash shot, and Thunder's troubles began right there. The pressure of scoring was always going to get to Athapaththu post that, and the Sri Lankan ended up holing out the very next over, leaving the Thunder in a heap.
Marizanne Kapp and Anika Learoyd tried to put up a brief fight, but departed in quick succession. The Heat bowlers, backed up by some quality fielding, succeeded on keeping a tight lid on the Thunder middle over across the middle overs. The slowness of the surface, the sluggish outfield and the long boundaries meant that boundaries were few and far in between, and eventually, the Thunder fell well short. Having claimed the honours in this game, Brisbane Heat make it to the finals!
20
overs
138/9score
1
0
1
W
1
0
runs
Samantha Bates*
1(4)
Ebony Hoskin
1(1)
Jess Jonassen
4/26
19.6 Jess Jonassen to Samantha Bates, good length ball on the middle, Bates looks to reverse sweep it and misses. The 'keeper appealed but Jonassen wasn't interested. That's it! Heat qualify for the Finals!
19.5 Jess Jonassen to Ebony Hoskin, good length ball on the middle, pushed to mid-wicket for one
Ebony Hoskin, RHB, comes to the crease
19.4 Jess Jonassen to Tahlia Wilson, OUT! CAUGHT! Short and wide, Wilson looks to cut it in the air but the ball loops high for an easy catch at point
19.3 Jess Jonassen to Samantha Bates, good length and wide, Bates drives and gets an outside edge that runs to third for one
19.2 Jess Jonassen to Samantha Bates, good length ball on off, pushed to point for no run