Recent Match Report – Hurricanes W vs Stars Wmn 6th Match 2021/22

Report

Hurricanes captain scored fourth-highest score in WBBL history, before Ruth Johnston’s 4 for 8 bowled Stars out for 89

Hobart Hurricanes 4 for 152 (Priest 107*, Stalenberg 17*, Sutherland 2-22) beat Melbourne Stars 89 (Lanning 25, Johnston 4-8, Carey 2-11) by 63 runs

Hobart Hurricanes captain Rachel Priest bludgeoned a remarkable century to set up a dominant WBBL victory over Melbourne Stars in Hobart.
Priest’s 107 not out from 68 balls, including ten fours and seven sixes, was the fourth-highest score in WBBL history and the highest by an international player. She also made 70% of Hobart’s total of 4 for 152, with the other five batters contributing just 36 runs off the bat.
The Hurricanes’ spinners then ripped through the Stars’ line-up as they were bowled out for 89, with Ruth Johnston claiming figures of 4 for 8, in just her second WBBL match, while Nicola Carey claimed 2 for 11 and Molly Strano bagged 2 for 21.

Stars were in control early, having won the toss and sent Hurricanes in. The home side slumped to 3 for 39 after seven overs, with Johnston, Mignon du Preez and Richa Ghosh all falling cheaply.

Priest was on 30 off 25 balls at one stage before striking 14 from Rhys McKenna’s first over. She reached 50 from 37 deliveries and then exploded, thumping five sixes in the last seven overs. Priest was 95 not out at the start of the final over, and brought up her century with a six.

Stars’ chase got off to a disastrous start with Elyse Villani chipping Strano to midwicket in the first over. They fell to 2 for 3 when Annabel Sutherland also succumbed to Strano two overs later. Meg Lanning made 25, but watched wickets tumble at the other end. Lanning too was eventually bowled trying to slog-sweep Johnston, who cleaned up the tail. Johnston had never bowled before at WBBL level, but finished with the extraordinary figures of 4 for 8 from 3.2 overs.

Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo