WBBL 2021 | Smriti Mandhana shine in Thunder’s derby win

India Women’s player and one of the finest batters in the women’s game, Smriti Mandhana hit a comprehensive 45 in Sydney Thunder Women’s chase of 95 against cross-town rivals Sixers Women. This was the second Sydney Derby of the Women’s Big Bash League 2021 with the first one being abandoned due to rain.

Firstly the Thunder bowlers reduced the Ellyse Perry-led side to only 94-6 even as Perry herself remained unbeaten on 40. Isabelle Wong and Hannah Darlington took two wickets each for the Thunder side. In the chase, Mandhana played anchor and scored 39-ball 45 to guide her team to only their third victory this season which made them move up from the bottom of the table to seventh place. 

For Sixers, it was their seventh loss of the season and they are placed at the sixth position, only one point ahead of the Thunder. 

In another game, Adelaide Strikers Women beat Brisbane Heat Women by eight wickets to stop their three-match winning run and continue their winning streak which has been stretched up to four at the moment.

Courtesy of  Amanda-Jade Wellington and co.’s bowling effort, Strikers reduced Heat to only 94-7 in their 20 overs and then, even after losing their foreign imports Dane van Niekerk and Laura Wolvaardt early, Katie Mack and Tahlia McGrath finished the game with their unbeaten 88 run partnership. Mack with her fifty was the top scorer.

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VVS Laxman likely to take over as NCA chief after Dravid’s appointment as India head coach

Former India batter VVS Laxman is all set to take charge of the National Cricket Academy as its head, a position that has been left vacant since the time Rahul Dravid took charge of the Indian cricket team as its head coach. The deal is almost settled and only an official announcement is awaited. “Laxman has agreed in principle. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah were very keen to have another stalwart take forward Dravid’s project at NCA. Dravid and Laxman share a great understanding and the board wants synergy between Team India and NCA,” a source close to the BCCI was quoted as saying by the TOI. “The modalities of his terms of appointment are still being worked out. But he has already been sharing his ideas on NCA,” it added. There was reluctance on the part of Laxman, who has represented the country in more than 100 Tests as he did not want to move base from Hyderabad to Bengaluru, where the Academy is located. “Laxman has been reluctant to move to Bengaluru from Hyderabad where his family is settled. However, he had multiple discussions with Ganguly and Shah after the IPL finished on October 15. His concerns were addressed. He will now discuss the offer with Sunrisers Hyderabad where he has been working as a mentor. The negotiations around his salary and other compensation will have to be completed now,” the source said. The appointment would have to be made early as the head of the NCA would also be responsible for Team India’s U-19 World Cup campaign which begins in January 2022 in West Indies.