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That was dominating and a collective performance from the Adelaide Strikers! And they have been quintessentially professional in doing that.
The openers provided an excellent foundation with Dane van Niekerk who scored 7 boundaries in her 29! She was soon dismissed when she went to score her 8th one. Laura Wolvaardt came in at no. 3 and boy did she perform to what the team wanted!
But it was Australia's future star that sealed the deal for Strikers and that was none other than the very special Tahlia McGrath. Gee! she is notching one performance after the other. Started the innings steadily with Wolvaardt and took the sensible approach of settling on a dicey pitch and capitalizing on the bad balls that were later bowled to her. She is making a strong case for the world's best all-rounders.
Renegades did everything they could to restrict Adelaide Strikers but couldn't keep away McGrath and Wolvaardt's brilliance away for long Molineux used 8 bowlers but they still couldn't get the job done as the match was over with 15 balls to spare.
Two wickets fell in quick succession after an excellent start in the chase but no more in the wickets column later on that killed their chances in the game. Only if their batters had applied themselves like Strikers, they could have easily managed something in the range of 150-160. But it wasn't to be but to be fair on Adelaide Strikers, they were right on the money with their disciplined bowling and some class fielding to keep the pressure mounting on Melbourne Renegades throughout their innings.
To add to their woes, Georgia Wareham injured her knee and it sounds serious enough for her to miss the next match. We hope she recovers well in time and the injury is not as serious as it looked on the ground.
We all know it is a team sport but it is the individual match-winners that we all look forward to and they are the ones we pick when we need one player to step for that occasion. The Bothams, Devs, Khans, Stokes. And we can very well add Tahlia McGrath to that list.
With this win, Adelaide Strikers go to the top of the table with 2 wins in as many matches while Melbourne Renegades have registered their first defeat of the tournament.
This year's WBBL has been about strange collapses and straightforward chases and the dichotomy isn't surprising given the uncertainty this format brings or rather this game of cricket brings upon us.
That is all from the first encounter of the day in the Women's Big Bash League 2021 from Blundstone Arena as another terrific encounter awaits us: Melbourne Stars Women vs Sydney Sixers Women, 9th Match Bellerive Oval, Hobart
But all in all, it has been an absolute pleasure bringing this belter of a match to you and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did it bringing it to you.
So until next time allow me Anavit Naik and my expert co-commentator Sooryanaryanan Sesha to take your leave! Take care and have a good day!
Tahlia McGrath (Player of the Match): (on the second POTM in two matches) (Smiles) feels good to contribute in the wins. The pitch was holding up, so (I) just thought of taking my time initially. Had a chat with Laura (Wolvaardt) about taking one over at a time and batting in partnership. Glad it came out well. Had terrific support from the other end. Credit to our bowlers for restricting them to 125-odd. All in all, satisfied with my performance. Now onto the next one.
Adelaide Strikers beat Melbourne Renegades by 8 wickets with two and a half overs to spare!
18.0
17.3 Sophie Molineux to Laura Wolvaardt, FOUR! AND THAT IS THAT! Wolvaardt seals the win in style - steps out of her crease to a full length delivery on off and lifts it through the line of it and goes downtown as the ball crosses over the fence with a couple of bounces. This has been an absolute clinic by the Adelaide Strikers - they beat the Melbourne Renegades by 8 wickets with 15 deliveries to spare!
17.2 Sophie Molineux to Tahlia McGrath, FIFTY FOR McGRATH! SHE CAN DO NO WRONG AT THE MOMENT! Fired into a full length on middle and off, McGrath steps down the track and lofts it over mid-on and into the deep to get to the milestone.
17.1 Sophie Molineux to Tahlia McGrath, DROPPED! EXCELLENT EFFORT THOUGH! Quicker delivery on a full length on off, McGrath shimmies down the track and drives over mid-off who dives to her right but fails to cling on. The batters race back for the second run in the process.
Skipper Molineux will bowl the 18th over
This might be the last over of the match. McGrath on 47
Adelaide Strikers Women need 5 runs in 18 remaining balls
17
overs
122/2score
1
3
1
1
0
0
runs
Laura Wolvaardt*
32(38)
Tahlia McGrath
47(37)
Carly Leeson
0/22
16.6 Carly Leeson to Laura Wolvaardt, OOH! Back of a length and angled into middle and leg, Wolvaardt is rushed back in her crease as she looks to whip it through mid-wicket but the ball rolls off the splice towards cover point.
16.5 Carly Leeson to Laura Wolvaardt, full length delivery around off, Wolvaardt leans half-forward to push it towards the fielder at cover.
Video
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T McGrath
S Molineux
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Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Laura Wolvaardt
*
Carly Leeson
