Ebony Hoskin is relishing the responsibility she has been handed since signing a late contract with the Scorchers ahead of WBBL|10
'Moments you dream of': Hoskin relives final-over thriller
Ebony Hoskin is still pinching herself that a late contract offer from Perth Scorchers has turned into the opportunity to play a starring role with the ball in WBBL|10.
Hoskin was the final-over hero on Wednesday evening as the Scorchers defended 108 against Melbourne Renegades at the WACA Ground.
The Renegades needed eight to win, and the right-arm quick kept them to five singles to seal a two-run victory.
She revealed afterwards that it was during the 19th over that she had glanced at the scoreboard and realised the other four bowlers used by captain Sophie Devine throughout the game were already bowled out.
"I had a thought that I could potentially be bowling the last over ... when Soph handed me the ball, I was pretty excited," Hoskin said after the game.
"I was real calm and was like, 'oh cool, this will be a pretty cool experience'.
"But now that it's sunk in, I'm a bit more shaky and nervous – I can't believe that happened.
"The crowd was unreal. They're the moments that you dream of as a young kid."
Hoskin went head-to-head with her NSW teammate Sarah Coyte in that final over – and she said that firsthand knowledge of the former Australia quick handed her the edge she needed.
"I knew that she would try to go a bit more leg side, and I just tried to follow her as much as possible and keep the stumps in play," she continued.
"We train a lot on death overs and situations like that, so for it to all come together was pretty special."
Hoskin, who hails from Howlong on the border of NSW and Victoria, played four matches for Sydney Thunder in WBBL|09 but was not re-contracted for this summer.
She played one game for her former club during the T20 Spring Challenge, before penning a one-year deal with the Scorchers, who were looking to bolster their pace stocks following Piepa Cleary's ACL injury, and Taneale Peschel's departure to the Thunder.
The 21-year-old was eager to experience a new environment and to soak up the chance to learn from players like Devine, but she said she had not necessarily expected to be taking the new ball alongside 19-year-old Chloe Ainsworth at the WACA Ground.
She has taken four wickets in her four games to date in Orange, including the key scalps of Grace Harris and Jess Jonassen in Tuesday's win over the Heat.
"Just being able to cement my spot each and every game ... it's definitely not something that I take for granted," Hoskin said.
"We have a really good relationship, me and Chloe – we have a good laugh on and off the field as well.
"To come over to Perth and be given the opportunity to open the bowling, it's pretty surreal.
"I'm really taking on the opportunity as much as I can and learning from the likes of Sophie Devine and getting a lot of info off Chloe as well in regard to the swing and stuff, can only grow my game."
The Scorchers sit second on the table with three wins from four matches.
All three positive results have come defending low totals at home, so their upcoming road trip, which will see them play in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart before their fourth and final home game on November 23, will present a new challenge.
"I'm really excited to go back over to the other side of Australia and be in the same time zone as my family," Hoskin said.
"The season's gone really, really quickly so far, and there's not many games left as well, so we've just got to keep plugging away and keep winning these games.
"We're excited to see what the rest of this season has for us."
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
REN
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.527 | 0 | 14 |
|
2
HEA
|
10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.384 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
THU
|
10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.002 | 0 | 13 |
|
4
HUR
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.189 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
SCO
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | -0.171 | 0 | 9 |
|
6
SIX
|
10 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | -0.477 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
STR
|
10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | -0.357 | 0 | 7 |
|
8
STA
|
10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | -0.205 | 0 | 5 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points