Without a rain cloud in sight for arguably the first time this tournament, Hurricanes captain, Corinne Hall, once again elected to bowl after winning the bat flip. It proved to be an inspired decision, with ‘Canes opening bowler, Belinda Vakawera, dismissing Renegades opener, Sophie Molineux, on just the second ball of the match.
Whilst the next wicket did not fall until the ninth over, the Hurricanes bowlers were extremely economical. When 15-year-old Amy Smith took her maiden WBBL wicket – that of South African international, Lizelle Lee, no less – the Renegades batting order began to crumble. In the end, the ‘Gades were bowled out for 81 with one ball remaining in their 20-over innings. The ‘Canes shared the wicket-taking around. Vakawera finished with 2-12 off 3 overs, Hayley Matthews took 2-9 off 4, eventual Player of the Match, Nicola Carey took 3-13 off 3.5, Sasha Moloney took 2-12 off 4, and Smith finished with 1-9 off 2.
The second innings also started off with a bang in the Hurricanes favour, with opener Rachel Priest striking back-to-back boundaries off the opening over of Renegades replacement player, Rosemary Mair. This set the tone of the innings, with misfielding from the Renegades combined with big-hitting from Priest meaning the winning target of 82 was easily reached by the ‘Canes in 12.3 overs.
Unfortunately, Priest wasn’t there at the end, with Renegades Captain, Amy Satterthwaite, snagging her wicket for a well-made 34 of 33 at the end of the 10th. Matthews (8* off 5) joined opener, Naomi Stalenberg (35* off 38), at the crease to hit the winning runs.
The nine-wicket win was the Hurricanes first in their past five outings against the Renegades, and also moves them up to sixth in the WBBL|06 standings.
The team will now look to this weekend, where they once again have back-to-back games against the Sydney Sixers and then the Sydney Thunder.