Georgia Voll’s four-wicket haul and an Anika Learoyd career-best 48 set up Sydney Thunder’s six-wicket win over Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) season opener at Junction Oval on Thursday.
Thunder reached 140 for 4 in reply to Renegades’ 138 for 9, finishing with 18 balls to spare in the first match of a double-header.
Voll damages Renegades with the ball
Voll took 4 for 26 with her offspin and was involved in a run-out as Renegades were restricted to 138 for 9 from their 20 overs.
Opener Hayley Matthews gave Renegades a strong start, blasting 45 from 30 balls before holing out in the deep. She put on 56 for the first wicket with Courtney Webb, and Georgia Wareham made a handy 23 from 19.
But Renegades lost 5 for 2 in the space of seven balls through the 17th and 18th overs as Voll did the damage.
Learoyd anchors the chase
Learoyd, in at first drop after Voll made 25 off 18 including Thunder’s only six of the match, hit nine boundaries in her 48 from 37 balls.
She put on 62 with Heather Knight in a match-winning third-wicket partnership, the pair taking 28 runs from the power surge to put Thunder within sight of victory. Knight and Nadine de Klerk finished the job.
Learoyd admitted feeling “really nervous” batting near the top of the order but said the innings would give her confidence.
“Probably a little bit of belief, I think,” Learoyd told Fox Cricket. “It’s not always something I’m great at, so it’s really nice to feel like I can put the scores on the board and hopefully that will help me believe I’m good enough to do it.”
She also praised Voll’s all-round contribution.
“She was great, wasn’t she? The true allrounder,” Learoyd said. “She’s been someone who I think is a really good contributor to our group with both bat and ball, and in the field as well. It was really nice to see her kick off a really good campaign.”
