The Indian players are finally coming to the party in the Women’s Big Bash League after the tournament moving to Western Australia from Tasmania. In today’s four games, Indians Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodriguez and Radha Yadav, all showed their brilliance while Shafali Verma, Poonam Yadav and Richa Ghosh failed to contribute very match with their skills.
After a brilliant show from Harmanpreet yesterday with both bat and ball where she scored 43, she went on to do better and reached her first-ever fifty in this season’s WBBL. This broke her 10-match drought of scoring a 50. Scoring 73 off just 46 balls, she made a chase of 161 against Adelaide Strikers Women look like a cakewalk on a difficult Lilac Hill Park wicket in Perth.
The Indian T20 skipper was also aided by a quick start from her compatriot Jemiah Rodriguez who scored a quickfire 27 off just 16 balls. These two innings were key in Renegades Women now moving to the top of the league table with a fourth consecutive win. Even with the ball, the off-spinner Harmanpreet picked two wickets and gave away only 31 runs in her four overs.
In another game at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania, Deepti Sharma showcased her skills with the ball and picked up three wickets to lead the defence of 146 for Sydney Thunder Women against Hobart Hurricanes Women. Her effort of 3-13 in four overs was the biggest boost for the Thunder to bowl out Hurricanes for just 109 and win two back to back games having lost four in a row earlier.
With the bat too Sharma’s 20 off 15 balls played a vital role alongside Smriti Mandhana’s run a ball fifty to get to 146.
Radha Yadav, the left-arm spinner was also in good touch as she helped her team Sydney Sixers Women beat home side Parth Scorchers Women. Her spell of 2-22 in four overs in which she got the wickets of Beth Mooney and Heather Graham, was a key one alongside those of Nicol Bolton’s and Lauren Chaetle’s in restricting the Scorchers for 117-9, defending a huge total of 161.
Alyssa Healy’s 94 unbeaten off 57 balls helped Sixers get to 161 in the first place. With this win, the Sixers also ended their three-match losing streak.