East Gosford’s Lauren Smith is proving a vital piece of the puzzle in the Sydney Sixers climb to the top of the Womens Big Bash League (WBBL) ladder after a dominating performance in the Sixers bout with the Adelaide Strikers.
Despite losing the toss, the Strikers could not find the gaps in the field thanks to some classy fielding from the Sixers. Coming off the back of teammate, Sarah Aley’s first wicket, Smith was able to secure two wickets, including the Strikers dangerous Tammy Beaumont. The Sixers proceeded to tear through the middleorder claiming three wickets within the space of one over from Smith. Lisa Sthalekar moved well to have Nitschke run out, with Smith trapping Coyote LBW two balls later, before Elyse Perry rounded of the fifteenth over with another pinpoint run-out. With Adelaide at 6/73, the women in magenta kept their foot on the pedal as they ran through the Adelaide tail with ease.
The experienced Sthalekar picked up her second wicket of the season, a beautiful looping ball kissing the bails as Saville departed for a duck. Aley picked up a run-out of her own in the nineteenth over, with Sthalekar returning to the attack in the fi nal over to knock over the last two Strikers’ wickets. A total of just 94 runs highlighted the ruthlessness displayed by the Sixers, as the off-spin duo of Sthalekar (3/12) and Smith (3/16) left the fi eld to rounds of applause, claiming six wickets between them. The Sixers completed the chase within 18 overs as Healy and Perry looked to match their record-breaking opening stand from the previous day. Healy struck her first boundary in the fourth over with a magnifi cent six flying over the rope at long on.
Megan Schutt claimed the fi rst wicket at the start of the seventh over, as Healy drove a ball into the hands of Coyte at cover to be dismissed for 17. Coming off the back of a blistering batting cameo, Gardner looked to replicate her hard-hitting innings as she struck a couple of classy boundaries, but a few balls later, Gardner found herself trapped LBW with the score at 2/38 after eight overs. Things got a little shaky for the Sixers, as McGlashan and van Niekerk both fell within the space off four balls. As her teammates came and went, Perry was the calming presence out in the middle, taking it upon herself to lead her team to victory.
The skipper struck backto-back fours to keep the Sixers on track for victory, before Marizanne Kapp departed for 1. With Reakes falling short of her crease in a running mix-up, the nerves looked to be getting the better of the Sixers as the scorecard read 6/77. But with Perry exhibiting her boundless skill and composure, the Sixers cruised to victory off the back of four boundaries from the captain in the eighteenth over. Thanks to Perry’s season-high score of 48 runs off 41 balls, the Sixers secured their fourth win on the trot to sit in fi rst place on the WBBL ladder.
Media release, Jan 3, 2017 Jodie Hawkins, Sydney Sixers