Match Recap: Heat defeat Renegades

Match in a tweet: Heat spinners restrict the Renegades to 102 before Mooney guides them home with an entertaining knock at top of the order. 

The score: Melbourne Renegades 102 (Barsby 4-13, Jonassen 3-12) in 20 overs lost to Brisbane Heat 5-105 (Mooney 45) in 18.5 overs by five wickets.

The hero: Jemma Barsby has become a master at bowling during the power play and during the death overs. The ambidextrous spinner’s clever change of pace and her accurate lines once again did the trick for the Heat against the Renegades. Barsby removed Sophie Molineux (16) and Grace Harris (0) off successive deliveries to put the Heat on the front foot right from the outset. The crafty off-spinner returned later in the innings to knock over Lea Tahuhu (10) and Maitland Brown (8) to finish with figures of 3-0-13-4.

The support cast: Beth Mooney looked to be making light work of the target with blistering knock of 45 from 39 balls to deflate the Renegades. Mooney took on the Renegades bowling by unleashing a couple of vicious pull strokes to get her innings underway. Immediately, the Renegades bowlers resorted to the fuller length but she was equally effective stroking the ball down the ground with consummate ease. Mooney hit five fours during her stay and while there was a flurry of wickets after her departure, the Heat got home to keep their finals hopes alive.

The over: This is one of the most bizarre overs you will see in any form of cricket. Haidee Birkett started the over but had to be taken off after the third ball because she had delivered her second waist high full toss of the innings.  The ball was dispatched to the boundary by Lea Tahuhu and she would also get a free hit on the following ball. But since Birkett was out of the attack, it was Smriti Mandhana who had to bowl it and she knocked over Tahuhu, although of course the wicket didn't count. A couple of balls later, Manadhana would have the last laugh by snaring the wicket of Georgia Wareham for nine, to complete one of the peculiar overs of the summer.

The consolation act: Kris Britt had some luck early in her innings with couple of edges flying between the fielders, but the Renegades batter made the most of her fortune by scoring 32 from 25 balls. Britt worked the ball around with ease and was equally successful at dispatching the bad ball to the boundary. The Renegades No.4 put on a vital 29 runs for the fifth wicket with Molly Strano to push the Renegades towards competitive total. 

The next stop: Both teams go head to head again tomorrow morning at Allan Border Field.