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The Women's Big Bash League 2023 opener turned out to be a nail-biting affair but it was marred by a controversial call off the last ball of the match. Alice Capsey tried to bowl it wide off Linsey Smith as she needed to defend four runs off the last ball. It looked like a wide ball but the umpire deemed it a legitimate delivery. Linsey was shocked and then scampered for a single via byes as Sydney Sixers lost the match by just two runs.
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The video of the last ball of the match has been making rounds on social media as the fans were not happy with the call. One of the fans wrote, "Shocking missed call. Is this the rubbish standard we expect this year?" Another fan took a dig at the umpire as he wrote “Last game for this umpire”
Ashleigh Gardner's 44-ball 72 in the run chase went in vain. In the run chase of 166, the Sixers lost too many wickets. They were reduced to 71/6 in the 11th over. Gardner took the game head-on and hit Rhys McKenna for two sixes in the 13th over. She got support from Maitlan Brown as well. In the 16th over, Sasha Moloney conceded 19 runs.
In the penultimate over, Annabel Sutherland turned the game upside down. Gardner got bowled by Sutherland. She hit nine fours and two sixes. Gardner and Brown shared an 84-run partnership for the seventh wicket. In the last over, eight runs were needed but Capsey held her nerves to guide Melbourne Stars to a narrow victory. Sutherland was the wrecker-in-chief with four wickets from her quota of four overs.
Earlier Sixers skipper Gardner won the toss and opted to bowl first. Stars' skipper Meg Lanning's 34-ball 55 and contributions from Sutherland and Maia Bouchier helped the visitors post 165/8 on the board despite too many wickets falling in the slog overs.
In their next match, Stars will take on defending champions Adelaide Strikers on October 21. On the other hand, the Sixers will go up against Sydney Thunder Women on October 22.
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