Women's Big Bash League: Sydney Sixers & Brisbane Heat win dramatic semi-finals
- Published
Renegades' Sophie Molineux was run out off the last ball which took the second semi-final to a super over - in which Ellyse Perry starred for the Sixers
Women's Big Bash League semi-finals, Sydney (Drummoyne Oval): |
Brisbane Heat beat Sydney Thunder by four runs - scorecard |
Sydney Sixers beat Melbourne Renegades in super over after tied game - scorecard |
A dramatic semi-final double-header in the Women's Big Bash League ended with both games going to the last ball - and one being decided by a super over.
Brisbane Heat overcame Sydney Thunder after Nicola Carey, trying to hit the last ball of the match for six, was caught on the square-leg boundary.
Melbourne Renegades' Sophie Molineux was then run out attempting the winning run against Sydney Sixers.
Australia star Ellyse Perry hit a six in the super over to win it for Sixers.
It completed a breathtaking day of action at Sydney's Drummoyne Oval - with Renegades' Danni Wyatt the only England player involved - setting up a Heat-Sixers final next Saturday.
Heat book final place for first time
Brisbane Heat have never reached a WBBL final before
Sammy-Jo Johnson top scored for the Heat as they posted 140-7 from their 20 overs, and New Zealand wicketkeeper Rachel Priest led Thunder's reply with 44 from 33 balls at the top of the order before she was caught by Haidee Birkett.
But the required rate crept up after that, leaving 13 needed from the final over, bowled by Australia left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen.
Only one boundary was possible off the first five deliveries, leaving Carey needing to hit the last ball for six to win - or four to tie and force a super over.
The left-hander slog-swept towards deep square leg - but was superbly caught by Birkett just inside the rope to take the Queensland side to their first final, in the fourth edition of the competition.
Renegades edged out by irrepressible Sixers
England opener Danni Wyatt was one of Melbourne Renegades' three nominated batters for the super over
If anything, the second game offered even more drama as the Sixers remain on target for a third successive WBBL title.
Although the Renegades, in their first semi-final appearance, removed four of the Sixers' top five for single figures, all-rounder Perry hit an unbeaten 54, adding an unbroken 98 for the fifth wicket with South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk (51 not out from 36 balls) as they recovered to finish on 131-4.
England's Wyatt then fell for 11 from seven balls but her opening partner Molineux (55) anchored the Renegades' reply, adding 60 with Jess Cameron (41 from 34 balls).
With 13 needed from the final over, bowled by Perry, Molineux needed three off the last ball for a place in the final and smashed it to the point boundary - but Erin Burns pulled off a superb stop to prevent what looked a certain four, and when the ball was returned to the middle, Molineux was run out attempting a third run.
That meant a one-over eliminator, in which the Sixers were indebted to two of their top international stars.
South Africa pace bowler Marizanne Kapp restricted Molineux, Wyatt and Cameron to only six runs from their super over - before Perry, arguably the world's leading female cricketer, hoisted the fourth ball of the Sixers' over for six over long-on to take them to their fourth successive final.