Cricket

Womens Big Bash League 2021 2021

Perth Scorchers won their first Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) on Saturday (November 27) with a 12-run win over Adelaide Strikers. Marizanne Kapp was the architect-in-chief of the win with figures of 25/1 and an unbeaten 31 of 23 deliveries. The latest triumph sees them become the fourth different team to win the competition.&nbsp; More than 15-thousand fans witnessed the final with both teams coming into the final with heads held high. After winning the toss, Adelaide captain Tahlia McGrath decided to bowl first. Scorchers captain Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney both put up a 52-run opening stand. After a good platform, Scorchers kept losing wickets at regular intervals. In the final five overs, the Western Australian side managed to score 47 runs as they ended with a total of 146/5. In response, Strikers started poorly as they lost Katie Mack early in the innings. Kapp was instrumental with the ball as she bowled a maiden over and restricted the Strikers from scoring at a high rate in the powerplay overs. With just 16 runs during fielding restrictions, the asking rate kept slipping out of Strikers' grasp. With 52 needed from the final four overs, Adelaide crumbled and finished with just 134 from their 20 overs. Marizanne Kapp was adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ while Harmanpreet Kaur was named ‘Man of the Series’. Perth Scorchers Women's maiden title win adds to the three titles won by the men’s team. They will now look to achieve an incredible double of winning both Men’s as well as Women's Big Bash in the same season. So far, the feat has been achieved only by Sydney Thunders who won in 2015-16 season.

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Perth Scorchers seal maiden title in Womens Big Bash

It was a bittersweet ending for Smriti Mandhana who registered her maiden Women Big Bash League (WBBL) century in a nail-biting run chase. The Sydney Thunder opened remained unbeaten for 114 but her dreamy innings went in vain as her Indian teammate Harmanpreet Kaur successfully defended 13 runs in the last over. Chasing a target of 176 set by Melbourne Renegades, Sydney Thunder fell short of the win by four runs. &nbsp;&nbsp;Mandhana vs HarmanpreetThe right-arm off-spinner Harmanpreet did not concede a single boundary in the last over. India’s T20I skipper made Mandhana reach for the ball in the final over and did not give her any pace to work with. She was also dropped at long-off off the fourth ball of the final over. In the end, Mandhana needed six runs off the final ball but could score just a single.&nbsp;No support from other endThe 25-year-old remained unbeaten for 114 from 64 deliveries including 14 fours and three sixes. She scored at a strike rate of 178.89. The southpaw did not have much support from the other end as Tahlia Wilson scored 40 runs from 39 deliveries. Mandhana did the bulk of scoring in the unbeaten 125-run partnership for the third wicket.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mandhana reached her maiden WBBL century in an emphatic fashion. She was batting for 79 at the end of 17th over. The need of the hour was boundaries and in the 18th over, she scored 24 runs off Holly Ferling’s over to reached three figures. She hit two fours, two sixes and ran a couple of twos between the wickets. She took 57 deliveries to reach her century.&nbsp;&nbsp;Earlier she reached her half-century at the halfway stage of the run chase from 31 deliveries. In the high-scoring run chase, she changed the game single-handedly.&nbsp;In the first innings, Harmanpreet was the star for Renegades scoring an unbeaten 81 off 55 deliveries including 11 fours and two sixes. Later she also took the wicket of Mandhana’s opening partner Sammy-Jo Johnson in the powerplay overs. She conceded just 27 runs in four overs she bowled.&nbsp;&nbsp;WBBL record for MandhanaThis is the joint-highest score by a batter in the history of WBBL. Ashleigh Gardner also scored 114, &nbsp;nearly four years ago. She scored 114 from 52 deliveries for Sydney Sixers against Melbourne Stars in 2017. Mandhana’s unbeaten 114 is also the highest score in a run chase and in losing cause.&nbsp;&nbsp;It is also the highest score and first century by an Indian batter in the Australia T20 league. She broke the record Harmanpreet created in the first innings with her unbeaten 81. This is the fourth century of the ongoing season as well.

Smriti Mandhana breaks records with unbeaten 114 in WBBL but suffers final over heartbreak 

Indian cricketers were under the spotlight in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2021 clash between Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Sixers. After a dismal performance with the bat on her WBBL debut, Shafali Verma registered her maiden half-century for the Sixers. Chasing a total of 126, Shafali scored 57 runs from 50 deliveries including six boundaries. For the most part of the run chase, she batted with a strike rate below 100 but in the 17th over she accelerated and helped her team to the doorstep of victory before getting out in the penultimate over.&nbsp;&nbsp;Radha gets maiden WBBL wicketApart from the 17-year-old’s half-century, left-arm spinner Radha Yadav got her maiden WBBL wicket as well. Radha took two wickets for 31 runs in her four overs. The spinner’s two scalps came in her last over including Indian teammate Richa Ghosh and Sasha Moloney.&nbsp;&nbsp;Ghosh misses fiftyOn the other side, Ghosh showcased big hitting for the Hurricanes. The 18-year-old scored a run-a-ball 46 including one four and three sixes. She missed out on her maiden WBBL century trying to clear the mid-wicket boundary off Radha’s bowling in the 18th over of the inning. Richa was impressive on her WWBL debut as well against Melbourne Renegades with a quickfire 14-ball 21 including two fours and one six. In that game as well, she lost her wicket to another Indian teammate, T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.&nbsp;&nbsp;Poonam stars in Scorchers’ super winIn the second match of the day, leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was involved in a nail-biter clash between Perth Scorchers and Brisbane Heat that went into super over. Poonam took two key wickets for 25 runs against Brisbane. She removed an in-form Beth Mooney and Heather Graham. Mooney was batting on 40 when the leggie got here wicket in the 13th over. In the run chase, she came to bat as well but did not get to play a single delivery as the match headed into super over where Scorchers emerged winners thanks to Sophie Devine’s two sixes.&nbsp;

Shafali Verma scores her maiden WBBL fifty in Sydney Sixers' run chase

India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur was at her attacking best for Melbourne Renegades in the nail-biting clash Women Big Bash League (WBBL) 2021. First, Harmanpreet scored an unbeaten 81 from 55 deliveries including 11 fours and two sixes and then returned to bowl an economical spell in a high-scoring affair.&nbsp; &nbsp;Coming in to bat early in powerplay overs at no.4 after Renegades lost two wickets, Harmanpreet took control of the innings and finished with a flourish. She was scoring at run-a-ball till the 12th over with 32 runs to her name.&nbsp; &nbsp;India’s T20I skipper accelerated in the next over and reached her half-century from 38 deliveries with a six off the first ball of the 15th over. She followed it up with a flurry of boundaries in the death overs and helped Renegades post a total of 175/4 in the first innings. She scored at a strike rate of 147.27.&nbsp; &nbsp;This was her WBBL career-best score and also the highest score by an Indian batter in the Australian T20 league. However, the record was soon to be broken by Sydney Thunder’s Smriti Mandhana who scored her maiden WBBL century.&nbsp; &nbsp;The 32-year-old helped her team defend the total against a rampant Mandhana who was single-handedly taking the game away from Renegades. In the powerplay overs, the Indian off-spinner took the wicket of Thunder opener Sammy-Jo Johnson. Later, she returned to defend 13 runs in the final over.&nbsp; &nbsp;Bowling to her Indian teammate, Harmanpreet varied her pace and length to prevent Mandhana from getting much power in the shot. She almost got the wicket of Mandhana off the fourth ball of the over but the catch was dropped at long-off. She ended up conceding just eight runs from the final over helping her side win by four runs despite Mandhana staying unbeaten.&nbsp;

Quickfire 81 to defending 13 runs in last over, Harmanpreet Kaur delivers her best performance in WBBL 2021

India women's T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur's brilliant all-round show for Melbourne Renegades has earned her a major title in the ongoing Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). The star all-rounder is India's top run-scorer of the WBBL 2021 season with 399 runs in 11 innings at an impressive strike rate of 135.25. Moreover, the prolific Renegades player was brilliant with the ball as well. The off-spinner scalped 15 wickets in the tournament at an average of 20.4. For her all-round performance, the stalwart was adjudged as the ‘Player of the tournament award', a feat no India has achieved in the league's history.&nbsp;In addition, Harmanpreet was voted as the competition's top player by the standing umpires as she received the most number (31) of votes followed by Perth Scorchers opener Beth Mooney who got 28 votes along with the Kiwi all-rounder Sophie Devine. It is to be noted that New Zealand's Sophie was winning the crown of ‘Player of the tournament’ from the last two seasons.&nbsp;&nbsp;The veteran Indian batter seemed jubilant after getting the award and expressed her gratitude to the entire team and coaching staff of Renegades.&nbsp;"I'm extremely delighted, it's something very big that I have achieved. I'm very thankful to my team and all the support staff, they have been great during this time and have supported me a lot. It's been totally a team effort -- I was just doing the job the team required from me," the veteran said in a release.&nbsp;"We have a team that has gelled together. We support each other and that's what we have been doing. I haven't put any extra pressure on myself, I've just enjoyed being here and supporting my teammates," the right-handed batter added.&nbsp;Harmanpreet is also the first Indian player to be included in the best XI of the tournament. Apart from the Indian giant, Sophie was the only non-Australian who was included in the best team of the tournament. On the other hand, with 377 runs from 13 innings, Smriti Mandhana failed to make the team of the tournament. In the previous week, Mandhana became the first Indian batter to score a century in WBBL with her record-equalling 114.&nbsp;WBBL 2021 Best XI: Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers, captain, international), Beth Mooney (Perth Scorchers), Georgia Redmayne (Brisbane Heat, wicket-keeper), Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades, international), Grace Harris (Brisbane Heat), Tahlia McGrath (Adelaide Strikers), Jess Jonassen (Brisbane Heat), Amanda-Jade Wellington (Adelaide Strikers), Hannah Darlington (Sydney Thunder), Tayla Vlaeminck (Hobart Hurricanes), Darcie Brown (Adelaide Strikers)

Harmanpreet Kaur becomes 1st Indian player to achieve this feat in WBBL

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