Melbourne Renegades crowned champions of the 2024 edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) as they beat Brisbane Heat by 7 runs at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. It was the all-round performance of Hayley Matthews that helped the Renegades clinch their maiden WBBL title. After winning the toss Brisbane Heat sent the Renegades to bat first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. Hayley Matthews (69 runs from 61 balls, 8 fours) opened along with Courtney Webb (9 runs from 8 balls, 2 fours). Even though Webb failed to perform, it was Matthews’ blitz knock that propelled Renegade to 141/9 in the first inning.
Georgia Wareham (21 runs from 21 balls, 3 fours) and Naomi Stalenberg (16 runs from 12 balls, 2 fours) also played a crucial role in the inning as they helped Matthews build a partnership and add some crucial runs on the board.
Matthews’ knock came to an end in the final over of the inning, it was Charli Knott who managed to take the crucial wicket but it was too late and the devastation was already done as the Renegades put up 141/9 on the scoreboard.
Knott led the Brisbane bowling attack, with her three-wicket haul. Meanwhile, Grace Parsons bagged two wickets in his four-over spell. Nicola Hancock, Lucy Hamilton, and Jess Jonassen took one wicket each in their respective spells.
Rain played a spoilsport during the inning break and delayed the game, for which the second inning was reduced to 12 overs, and as per DLS method, the target was cut short to 98 runs.
During the run chase, Brisbane Heat showcased a sloppy performance with the bat. Both the top and middle order failed to put up a show in the game.
However, Jess Jonassen played a captain’s knock in the second inning and was the top run-getter among her teammates. Jonassen played a 44-run knock from 28 balls at a strike rate of 157.14. She smashed 5 fours and 1 six during her time on the crease.
Brisbane came closer to victory but failed short of just a few runs which stopped them from getting a hold of the silverware.
Matthews led the Melbourne Renegade bowling attack as she picked up three wickets in her three-over spell. Meanwhile, Charis Bekker, Milly Illingworth, Sophie Molineux, and Deandra Dottin bagged one wicket each in their respective spells.
Hayley Matthews was named the Player of the Match following her scintillating performance with both bat and ball.
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