Who else but Ellyse Perry? The Sixers skipper was in the runs and wickets again as her team jumped to the top of the WBBL table
Match Report:
ScorecardPerry on song as Sixers smash Thunder
Ellyse Perry led the way with the bat as the Sydney Sixers claimed an emphatic victory over cross-town rivals Thunder in the Rebel WBBL.
Under lights at Drummoyne Oval, Perry took her time adjusting to difficult batting conditions but flourished once she found her feet, striking 81 to guide her team to 3-152.
We've just ticked past the halfway mark of the season, and with so little separating the teams, every match from this point on is crucial!Here's what's on in the week ahead #WBBL05 pic.twitter.com/J12VXJNvHC— Rebel Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) November 14, 2019
The Thunder never quite got going in the chase, losing regular wickets to finish on 8-112 as the Sixers jumped to the top of the tight WBBL|05 table with a 40-run victory.
Sent in by the Thunder, Sixers openers Perry and Alyssa Healy made a circumspect start, scoring just 24 runs from the power play.
Healy rode her luck, handed lives on nine, 20 and 24, before finally exploding to take 16 runs off Rene Farrell in the 12th over.
But just as she was getting going, she was stumped from the bowling of left-arm spinner Sam Bates, gone for a 29-ball 40.
Ashleigh Gardner (16) found the boundary just once before she was dismissed, but Perry anchored the innings superbly to bring up her half-century before accelerating.
She took 19 runs from the final over before sacrificing her wicket seeking an extra run from the final delivery, as the Sixers finished on 3-152.
Thunder openers Rachel Priest and Rachael Haynes – promoted from No.3 with Naomi Stalenberg omitted for the match – were kept quiet early in reply and the pressure paid off when Priest holed out to off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner for 16 in the fifth over.
From 1-19, the Thunder when found themselves 2-22 when the out-of-sorts Haynes was bowled by Marizanne Kapp for four from 15 deliveries.
Regular wickets continued to tumble as the Sixers bowlers shared the spoils, and while a late rearguard from Hannah Darlington (23) and Rene Farrell (23) helped restrict the damage to the Thunder’s net run rate, they finished 40 runs in arrears.
Kapp was simply brilliant up front with the ball, taking 1-9 from three overs, while Sarah Aley picked up two wickets from her four overs.
To come this weekend at Drummoyne Oval:
Thunder v Heat | Saturday 7.10pm AEDT
Scorchers v Heat | Sunday 10am AEDT
Sixers v Renegades | Sunday 2.10pm AEDT
Catch the action matches on 7Cricket, Fox Cricket, or live streamed via Kayo and the CA Live app, with radio coverage on the ABC; Scorchers v Heat will be streamed live on the CA Live app and Kayo
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