'Stole the net': Voll defies delayed arrival to shine at the G

Georgia Voll admits she hogged the nets at the MCG on the eve of her first match at the iconic venue.

After already being delayed on their flight to Melbourne on Thursday morning, the Thunder were yet again held back, this time hitting Melbourne traffic while on the way to training at the MCG from the airport. 

It meant the Thunder started their sole training session before facing the Scorchers 90 minutes late.

All the interruptions coming at a time when the Thunder were looking to bounce back from their poorest defeat of the campaign against the Scorchers, who they would face in the very next game just four days later.

Fast forward to game time and post-match reaction and it is clear the messy preparations didn't faze Voll.

It did the trick in fact: on Friday, Voll hammered a career-high 97 not out from 56 deliveries as the Thunder reeled in a target of 171 to get their campaign back on track.

"I think I stole the net for about 45 minutes to an hour," Voll told cricket.com.au.

"We only had that amount of time (to train), so I actually stayed in that whole time.

"I just thought I needed a bit of a longer hit, with travelling and back-to-back games and just topping up all the time.

"I thought that if I could get a bigger volume session in yesterday, it would clear my head for today.

"I’d actually never been inside the MCG before, so to rock up here yesterday and have a training session, and then step out here on a pretty special ground and put on a performance like that was really special."

Voll’s 97no was the second-highest WBBL score made by an internationally uncapped player behind Georgia Redmayne’s 98 in WBBL|08.

She is also the owner of the third-highest score, the 92 she struck against the Stars in her third game as a Thunder player earlier this season.

The 21-year-old left Brisbane Heat during the off-season desperate for more opportunities with the bat, after she was pushed down as low at No.9 last summer.

She said she was relishing the chance to open the batting for the Thunder alongside Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu, and to learn from England captain Heather Knight, who she shared a 64-run stand with during Friday’s victory over Perth.

"Coming down to the Thunder, the opportunity was pretty clear to open the batting, and I jumped at that," Voll said.

"That's what I've been wanting over the last couple of years and with the quality of the top order that Brisbane have up there, it was hard to fit in.

"To come down here, new start, new opportunity, new coaching staff and players, I was super excited.

"(Knight’s) such a world-class player ... to be able to play with her and be out in the middle for long periods of time with her has helped my game."

The Thunder moved to the top of the table following their seven-wicket win, two points ahead of the chasing pack grouped on four wins apiece.

Their next assignment is a Sydney Smash against the Sixers on Sunday, where they have a chance to move closer to sealing their finals berth.

"It was a big game for us, if we dropped another one, it would put a bit of pressure on leading into the back end, the last couple of games," Voll said.

"To get back on the right track heading into the last three games has really helped us."

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Sydney Thunder Women THU	7	5	2	0	0	0.291	0	10
2 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	8	5	3	0	0	0.208	0	10
3 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	7	4	3	0	0	0.572	0	8
4 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	7	4	3	0	0	0.099	0	8
5 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	7	4	3	0	0	0.084	0	8
6 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	7	3	4	0	0	-0.425	0	6
7 Melbourne Stars Women STA	6	2	4	0	0	0.072	0	4
8 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	7	1	6	0	0	-0.968	0	2

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points