The Thunder have celebrated their first game at Sydney’s Cricket Central with a thumping eight-wicket win over the Renegades to remain unbeaten to start the new WBBL season.
Sri Lankan star Chamari Athapaththu continued her dominant start to the season with the former Renegade smashing a sparkling 80 off 54 to guide her side to victory with 15 balls to spare.
After scoring 52 and taking three wickets in the Sydney Smash, Athapaththu – who wasn’t selected in the WBBL draft – backed it up with another half-century which saw her belt the first six of the afternoon to reach her 50.
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The Thunder have four elite overseas players in their squad but are only allowed to pick three, with Athapaththu making it impossible for selectors to bump her out of the side on the back of two terrific knocks at the top of the order.
The result means the Thunder have already surpassed last year’s total when they won just one game and finished on the bottom of the table.
FIELD OF DREAMS
Phoebe Litchfield (18 not out) didn’t have long enough to dazzle the 1055 fans with her batting, but the Thunder star still managed to produce another highlight with a moment of magic in the field.
Renegades opener Tammy Beaumont found out the hard way that you shouldn’t take on Litchfield’s arm after the young star rushed in off the mid-wicket fence and caught the Englishwoman short of her ground with a brilliant direct hit.
RENEGADES FALL SHORT
Melbourne’s 5/147 never felt like enough on Thursday evening, with the Renegades’ all-star top order failing to fire.
International stars Beaumont (23), Harmanpreet Kaur (11) and skipper Hayley Matthews (8) all missed out, with all-rounder Georgia Wareham getting them to a competitive total with an unbeaten 47.
It didn’t help that they lost Beaumont and Kaur in the space of three deliveries, with the Renegades looking to bounce back on Saturday when they take on the Sixers.
