Harmanpreet Kaur inspires Melbourne Renegades to victory over Sydney Sixers

The Indian batter took two wickets with her part-time off spin before hitting consecutive sixes to seal victory

Launceston: Sydney Sixers 118-4, Melbourne Renegades 120-3 - Melbourne Renegades win by seven wickets

Scorecard

Ellyse Perry hit a half century for Sydney Sixers, but their star-studded top order continued its recent struggle in a comprehensive defeat against Melbourne Renegades.

Perry, Sixers’ captain and star allrounder, came to the crease at the end of the second over with both Shafali Verma and Ashleigh Gardner already out, before Alyssa Healy fell shortly afterwards as Renegades stifled the two-time champions with plenty of spin.

Sophie Molineux dismissed Verma with the first ball she faced, while Harmanpreet Kaur – generally a part-time option for India – caught Healy off her own bowling, having already taken the wicket of Gardner.

Perry and Nicole Bolton rebuilt but were unable to unleash; Perry ended the innings unbeaten on 50 from 51 deliveries, while Bolton used up 41 balls for 38. “Hats off to them,” said Bolton afterwards. “It was just about trying to get that one big partnership to try and get to a score that we could hopefully defend.”

^{Ellyse Perry made 50 for Sydney Sixers}

There were just seven fours and a six in the entire innings, with Renegades so committed to their spin-first strategy – even with Australia leg-spinner Georgia Wareham absent due to an ACL injury – that former Australia seamer Holly Ferling went unused.

In response, Melbourne made light of the chase: Perry didn’t bowl, while Gardner’s off spin was taken for 41 runs in four overs as overseas players Eve Jones, Jemimah Rodrigues and Kaur set out their stall.

Jones fell for 38 in the 10th over, only to be replaced by Kaur, who hit consecutive sixes to finish the contest, ending unbeaten on 35.

A rare positive for Sixers was the return of left-arm seamer Lauren Cheatle, who made her international debut at 17 but has been plagued by injuries ever since. She made her first appearance in seven months.

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