HOBART, Australia, (CMC):
West Indies Women’s captain, Stafanie Taylor, suffered the shame of a first-ball duck, as her Sydney Thunder crashed to a six-wicket defeat to Hayley Matthews’ Hobart Hurricanes, in the Women’s Big Bash yesterday.
In a contest at Bellerive Oval, Thunder were held to 115 for nine off their 20 overs, and Hurricanes eased to their target in the penultimate over, despite a failure from Matthews.
The defeat left the reigning champions third from bottom on 10 points, while Hurricanes jumped to third in the standings on 13, as they continued their push for a playoff spot.
BATTING FIRST
Opting to bat first, Thunder suffered a huge blow off the fifth delivery of the game’s first over, when Taylor was caught at the wicket off seamer Julie Hunter.
However, captain Alex Blackwell struck 49 from 50 balls in a 53-run, second-wicket stand with opener Rachael Haynes, whose 36 came from 32 balls.
They were the only two to pass 20, and two of three in double figures, as Thunder crumbled from 80 for two in the 14th over, losing seven wickets for 35 runs.
Right-armer Amy Satterthwaite destroyed the innings with five for 17 from her four overs, and though off-spinner Matthews finished wicket-less, her four overs cost just 22 runs.
In reply, the hosts got a top score of 38 from opener Erin Burns, and an unbeaten 34 from captain Heather Knight, as they comfortably overhauled their target with 10 balls remaining.
The teenaged Matthews, batting at number five, made just two before she was bowled by Indian medium pacer Harmanpreet Kaur in the 15th over at 89 for four.
