After losing the toss and being sent into bat, the Hurricanes got off to a disastrous start, slumping to 3-4 in the third over, with key players Nicola Carey (0), Hayley Matthews (0) and Chloe Tryon (1) all departing cheaply. Elevated up the order, it was Sasha Moloney who responded to the pressure of the situation, combing with Rachel Priest for a 57-run partnership, salvaging the Canes’ innings.
When Priest departed for 32 - followed by Moloney for 39 two overs later - the Hurricanes’ innings teetered on the edge. However, Captain, Corinne Hall, steadied the ship, with an unbeaten 24 off 18 balls, leading her side to finish at 9-115 after their 20 overs, and giving her bowlers something to defend; the highest total made at Drummoyne this tournament in fact.
Still missing their opening bowler, Belinda Vakawera, who injured herself in the previous day’s game against the Perth Scorches, 115 was always going to be a tough total to defend. However, when Hall also came from the field with an injured calf midway through the second innings, things continued to get worse for the Hurricanes.
The ‘Canes rallied, however, in defending what they could. Carey took the key wickets of English superstars Tammy Beaumont (22) and Heather Knight (25) – Knight with a spectacular catch off her own bowling – whilst Matthews return to the side was welcomed when she trapped opener, Rachel Trenaman, lbw for 16.
The total was simply not enough to defend however, with the Thunder notching up the winning runs in the 17th over.
Post-game, Hurricanes Head Coach, Salliann Briggs, reflected on her side’s performance, both today and throughout the tournament.
“It was good through that middle phase that we were able to get a partnership that we’ve been creating through that middle order. Obviously, when we’re out [of the tournament] people can play with a little bit of freedom, so I was really happy with how Sash came in when [Shabnim] Ismail was bowling so well and aggressively – I thought she played her really well.
“But obviously you can’t win games posting only 115, so we’ve got a bit of work to do from now until we get to the WNCL.”
“Look I’m pretty disappointed to be honest, in how we’ve played from a batting point of view,” Briggs continued. “I don’t think it’s a true reflection of the quality that we’ve got in this team. I think the key thing between us and other teams is those senior players standing up and getting excited to want to make a difference, so we’ve got to find ways that we can give our players the confidence to go out there and play confidently [and] aggressively and want to dominate.”
The Hurricanes will return home tomorrow and commence a two-week leave period, before returning to training in preparation for the Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) 50-over competition, scheduled to commence in early 2021.