Sixers take out thriller as WBBL|08 begins with a bang

Ellyse Perry starred with bat and ball as Sydney Sixers claimed a final-over thriller over Brisbane Heat in an electrifying start to Weber WBBL|08 in Mackay.

The season opener went down to the wire, when No.8 Maitlan Brown – facing her first ball of the season with five runs needed from two deliveries – blasted a six to seal a four-wicket win.

Their successful pursuit of the Heat’s 8-141 snapped a six-game losing streak and ensured coach Charlotte Edwards’ tenure kicked off on a positive note.

Perry (55 and 2-27) and Burns (50) had earlier rescued the Sixers from a tricky position at 3-25 with a match-winning 93-run stand.

Perry continued the aggressive stroke play she produced at The Hundred, while Burns played positively in her much-anticipated return to the league after missing last season due to border closures.

Perry brought up a half-century from 43 balls, a signal of intent from the allrounder who passed fifty just once in WBBL|07 and whose 358 runs in that tournament came at a strike rate of 91.

Burns’ own half-century came from just 35 deliveries and included the season’s first maximum off an Amelia Kerr full toss.

When Jonassen removed both Perry and Burns in the space of three balls the Heat’s hopes were reignited with their rivals needing 23 runs from 19 balls.

That became eight off six when Jonassen realised she had miscalculated, and was forced to throw the ball to off-spinner Georgia Voll for her first over of the night with Nicole Bolton and Sophie Ecclestone at the crease.

A dot, a single, two and then a wicket had the Sixers needing five off two, but No.8 Brown’s nerves of steel sealed a famous win.

The Heat had been on top early with the ball, after debutant Jess Kerr’s in-swing reaped the huge wicket of Alyssa Healy, who departed for a four-ball duck after chipping a simple chance back to the Kiwi bowler.

Suzie Bates (4) was handed a life on three when Kerr put down a skied chance in the deep, but her sister Amelia had no issues four balls later, holding onto a sharp catch, and when a lightning-fast effort behind the stumps from Georgia Redmayne had Ashleigh Gardner stumped for two, the Sixers were shaky at 3-25.

Perry’s heroics with the bat came after she took the new ball and collected 2-27 to help restrict the Heat to 8-141.

Perry – who only returned to bowling in the domestic one-day competition earlier this month after a back injury – claimed the first wicket of the season when Grace Harris (1) edged to Nicole Bolton at slip.

The Decision Review System has arrived in the Big Bash this summer and Perry took just 1.5 overs to become the first skipper to use it, going upstairs after believing she had found the edge of Voll’s bat. It was to no avail; UltraEdge was flat and the review was lost.

Georgia Redmayne was gifted a life on 10 when Perry put down a simple chance at point, and capitalised, finding the boundary six times in a 39-ball 49.

When she departed in the 12th over, Laura Harris (1) was promoted to No.4 as the Heat sought acceleration, but a superb Brown yorker nullified the powerful right-hander.

No.3 Voll struggled for fluency, scoring 32 from 39 balls, and regular wickets fell through the backend of the innings as Amelia Kerr (19), Jonassen (8), Mikayla Hinkley (1) and Nicola Hancock (0) departed in quick succession.

But the Heat still managed to add 49 runs from the last five overs, thanks largely to a spritely 21no off nine from teenage allrounder Charli Knott.

Star English spinner Ecclestone finished with 1-31 from four overs in her Big Bash debut, while Brown collected two further wickets at the death to finish with 3-20.

The Sixers meet Adelaide Strikers in Mackay on Saturday, the first match in a double-header that sees the Heat host Melbourne Stars that evening.

Tickets for Weber WBBL and KFC BBL games are on sale now. Get yours at cricket.com.au/big-bash