Knight's half-century sets up Thunder win over Heat

Heather Knight hit an unbeaten 59 off 34 balls as Sydney Thunder beat Brisbane Heat by 19 runs in the Women's Big Bash League.

Knight's half-century was her second in three matches for Thunder since she returned from the calf injury she sustained in England's final game against West Indies at the T20 World Cup in October.

The 33-year-old hit 10 fours in her knock and has now scored 135 runs in three innings, at an incredible strike-rate of 175.32.

She was supported by Phoebe Litchfield's 40 off 25 balls and Chamari Athapaththu's 33 as Thunder posted 170-5 in Perth.

Thunder then struck twice in the powerplay with Georgia Redmayne (nine) and Jemimah Rodrigues (five) dismissed, before restricting Heat to 98-5.

Charli Knott hit 55 off 37 balls to give Heat hope but Thunder bowled Heat out for 151 in the final over for their third win in four games.

"I’m really pleased," Knight told ABC Grandstand. "It was difficult to start but when you get in you can really cash in so that is what I tried to do.

"It was a really pleasing performance and different players are performing at different times."

Thunder's next game is the Sydney derby against Sixers on Sunday (02:40 GMT), while Heat play Adelaide Strikers on Saturday (08:15 GMT).