Mooney, Kapp power Perth to record-breaking win

Beth Mooney and Marizanne Kapp have powered the Perth Scorchers to a stunning 104-run victory against the struggling Melbourne Renegades at Junction Oval.

Mooney (90 off 58) and Kapp (68no off 34) put on 123 runs for the fourth wicket in just 9.2 overs to lead the Scorchers to 4-192, the highest Weber WBBL total ever posted at the St Kilda venue.

A disciplined bowling performance led by Piepa Cleary (2-6) and Alana King (2-18) then saw a Renegades batting line-up already low on confidence bowled out for 88 in 17.3 overs.

It was the largest winning margin in terms of runs in WBBL history, eclipsing the Sydney Sixer's 103-run win over the Hobart Hurricanes in 2017.

Perth took two crucial points and a very handy net run rate boost from the crushing win, which lifted them into third spot on the table, level on 13 points with second-ranked Sydney Sixers, who were due to play the Melbourne Stars immediately after.  

Sent into bat first, the Scorchers made a change at the top with out-of-sorts captain Sophie Devine dropping herself down in the order and promoting Chloe Piparo to open alongside Mooney.

Georgia Prestwidge got the first breakthrough for the Renegades when she had Piparo caught for 19, and while Devine made an ominous start hitting a boundary off the first ball she faced, the New Zealander was run out for six courtesy of a brilliant direct hit from Shabnim Ismail.

Maddy Green (2) suffered the same fate an over later after being called through for an ambitiously tight single, leaving the Scorchers 3-69 in the 11th over.

But Kapp’s arrival at the middle marked a sudden change in momentum. The fiery South African got off the mark with back-to-back boundaries and from there, she allowed the Renegades attack no respite.

She brought up a half-century off 26 balls while at the other end, Mooney also found her rhythm, bringing up a fifty off her own before accelerating.

Mooney became the first player to pass 4000 WBBL runs during an innings that featured 11 fours and two sixes, while Kapp’s whirlwind knock saw her clear the boundary four times.

In a bowling card that did not make for pleasant reading for the Renegades, it was the imports who bore the brunt of Kapp and Mooney’s attack; West Indies spinner Hayley Matthews had figures of 1-46 off her four overs, while Proteas quick Ismail’s 0-43 was her worst return in the WBBL.

The Renegades were already low on confidence after being bowled out for 80 in Hobart last Monday before a washout against the Sixers on Thursday and another set of low scores from their international openers immediately made an already large chase even more difficult.

Matthews (6) was caught at cover before Chamari Athapaththu (7) was run out by Green an over later. Captain Sophie Molineux (3) and Josie Dooley (14) kept Green in the action, chipping her a pair of simple catches.

When Rhiann O’Donnell was bowled by Taneale Peschel for a golden duck, the Renegades were in dire straights at 6-37, but Erica Kershaw gave the home fans something to cheer about hitting two huge sixes in a 22-ball 25. 

The Renegades remain seventh on the table with two wins from 11 matches and will meet the Stars in the Melbourne derby on Sunday afternoon, while the Scorchers play the Sixers.

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