Renegades 'keeper's two best WBBL scores have come in the past week against Melbourne Stars
Faltum's breakthrough knock a 'double win' against former team
Nicole Faltum admits she had a bit of a point to prove when she almost single-handedly yanked the Renegades out of trouble in Friday's Melbourne derby.
Faltum hammered an unbeaten 66 from 42 balls after arriving in the middle with the Renegades in all sorts at 5-48 in the eighth over.
Her 67-run partnership with Georgia Wareham steadied the ship, before she combined with Georgia Prestwidge to hit 55 runs from the final 3.4 overs as the Renegades posted a hefty total of 6-170.
It was a breakout innings for the 24-year-old, whose previous high score in the Weber WBBL was 29 – and that was a PB set just six days ago in the first Melbourne derby.
Faltum was traded to the Renegades from the Stars, where she spent seven seasons including a tournament as captain aged 22 in 2022, midway through this year and the chance to show up her old side was added motivation.
"There could be something in that, a bit of extra grit and a bit of determination" Faltum told cricket.com.au.
"The position that we were in, if I can positively contribute to the team and if it so happens to be against the Stars, that's a bit of a double win.
"On the bench, we were just speaking about partnerships, so when I went out there with 'Wolf' (Wareham), our aim was just to build a partnership.
"We were able to get some momentum at the back end and then the way that Georgia Prestwidge came in and absolutely smacked them across the rope was incredible for us."
Prior to her twin knocks against the Stars this season, Faltum's highest score from 47 WBBL innings was 24 against the Sixers in Mackay in 2022.
The wicketkeeper-batter's potential has always been there, and she is a regular in Australia A sides and in recent years has been a consistent contributor in Victoria's top-order in the 50-over WNCL, averaging 36 across the last two seasons.
But prior to this summer, Faltum had not cracked the code in T20 cricket – nor had she had regular opportunity, batting just 43 times in 79 WBBL matches.
She said a heavy focus on her power game throughout the winter, combined with her stint with Australia A in their August series against India A, had made a difference.
In the lead-up to WBBL|10, Faltum showed off those gains, hitting unbeaten knocks of 43 (off 24) and 44 (off 27) in the T20 Spring Challenge.
"My power hitting has been a big part of that," Faltum said.
"My touch game is always there, but the power hitting stuff – I think the belief is just there.
"I feel really backed and I feel really confident from my teammates and from the coaches, which is amazing.
"And I've just got the chance to be able to do it in some games (this season), where I haven't probably had that in the past.
"I've just been working really hard on my batting … having some consistency with where I'm batting also really helps.
"I'm at the top of the order for WNCL, but in all the Aus A stuff, I was batting six and seven, so a similar sort of role and I've just been trying to hone in on that."
The Renegades held on in a tight finish to claim a nine-run win, after Stars young guns Rhys McKenna and Tess Flintoff threatened to snatch victory during their own seventh-wicket stand of 44 runs from 24 balls.
Like Faltum, McKenna – who struck 34 off 18 – and Flintoff are Victorian-contracted players producing a brand of fearless lower-order hitting.
They came together with the Stars needing 63 runs from 33 balls, but Flintoff said they were not overwhelmed by the scenario.
"We actually said this would be a hell of a story to tell the grandkids," Flintoff told cricket.com.au.
"So that was the start of it, and we're both pretty laid-back characters so we just kept to that.
"It shows how strong our domestic competition is when you've got people like (McKenna and Faltum) standing up for their team.
"(But) I'm pretty disappointed ... when we get close, I feel like it hurts a little bit more."
The Renegades are in a solid position eight games into their season with five wins under their belt, but their second place on the table will likely be challenged over the next six days before they next play in Hobart on Thursday.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for the team who finished on the bottom with just two wins last season, and who started WBBL|10 with back-to-back defeats.
On Friday, they were without captain Sophie Molineux, who is managing a knee issue, alongside opener Courtney Webb (back) and batter Emma de Broughe, who has been ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury.
"It just goes to show we bat really deep and we have so many bowling options," Faltum said of their ability to cover their missing players.
"The belief amongst the group is really cool.
"We didn't win those first two games and we didn't get off to the greatest of starts.
"But I felt in myself, and I think others felt that even though we didn't get across the line in those games, we were really close.
"After that, we were able to snag a couple (of wins) and I think the belief has just grown from there."
The Stars meanwhile have a 2-4 record and will play their final four matches in the space of eight days – and need to win at least three of those, and preferably four, to have a chance at sneaking into finals.
It has been a frustrating run for the green team, whose four defeats have come by margins of nine, 15, six and 13 runs.
"It's a pretty easy equation and I feel like the comp is so tight as well if you look at the ladder, there's only a few games in between it all," Flintoff said.
"If we can get on a roll, it would be good."
Weber WBBL|10 standings
| 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