After the ‘Canes historic win over the Sydney Sixers yesterday, today they suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of the Brisbane Heat.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, things promptly began to go downhill for the Hurricanes. The hero of yesterday’s game – Rachel Priest – quickly smashed 14 runs at a strike rate of 175, but when Heat Captain, Jess Jonassen, took her wicket at the top of the fourth over, things quickly began to unravel.
Nicola Carey and Emma Thompson – who returned to the WBBL playing arena for the first time in three years yesterday – equal-top-scored with 19 runs apiece, but there weren’t too many other highlights in the first innings for the ‘Canes, being bowled out for a total of 82 runs in the 18th over.
It was a difficult wicket to bat on, but the Heat’s opening pairing of Georgia Redmayne and Grace Harris made it look easy, cruising to victory without a wicket falling. There were some definite standouts in the ‘Canes bowling attack, with Belinda Vakawera (0-12 off three overs), Carey (0-16 off three) and Chloe Tryon (0-4 off one) all putting up exceptional economy rates, but needing to defend such a low total it wasn’t enough, with the Heat notching the winning runs in the 12th over of their innings with the bat.
Redmayne was named Player of the Match, finishing on 66* off 33 balls.
Hurricanes bowler, Brooke Hepburn, reflected on her side’s disappointing defeat.
“[It’s] obviously very disappointing coming off the highs of yesterday, beating the Sixers in what was a dominant display with the bat. I guess it’s always tough to defend a low total, and to be honest, we just didn’t execute with the ball. I was really proud of Belinda Vakawera up front…in the power play we kept them under wraps, but then…we just gave them width, and credit where credit’s due, I thought Georgia Redmayne batted exceptionally well and she’s been in fine form this tournament. It’s a shame she had to do it against us, but as well, we’ve got to come back better with the ball.”
The Hurricanes will now enjoy a rest day tomorrow, before their next match on Tuesday against the Adelaide Strikers. The match will be broadcast on ABC Grandstand and live streamed at cricket.com.au and Kayo Sports from 9.30am AEDT.