Taylor, Stalenberg fire Sydney to top in WBBL

SYDNEY: Stafanie Taylor returned miserly figures of 3 for 24 as Sydney Thunder restricted Hobart Hurricanes to 153, a target that was chased down with relative ease thanks to a blazing 74-run stand between Naomi Stalenberg (55 off 39) and Rachel Priest (40 off 21) in the Women Big Bash League.

Thunder’s six-wicket victory propelled them to the top of the table while leaving the Hurricanes rooted at the opposite end with just one win from seven.The Hurricanes landed the better of the early blows with openers Smriti Mandhana (29 off 22) and Erin Fazackerley (35 off 21) adding 43 in a little over 4.3 overs. It was then that Taylor, brought on as the first change bowler, struck her first blow. Fazackerley, who had struck six boundaries already, was cleaned up by the Windies skipper. Mandhana, unlike her exploits in England’s KSL, failed to make good on her start and spooned a catch to her India T20 captain Harmnapreet Kaur off Rene Farell (2 for 34). Heather Knight attempted to hold the Hurricanes innings together but Taylor returned to stop her knock from progressing beyond 34.

The lower-order caved to leave the visitors with a sub-par 153 on the board. Thunder were dented early in chase when Rachael Haynes departed in the first over but Priest and Stalenberg led a thrilling counter-attack that brought the asking rate down to comfortable levels. Although Harmanpreet fell cheaply after the pair was dismissed, Taylor was on hand to score an unbeaten 20 and guide her team home with 16 balls to spare.

Brief scores: Hobart Hurricanes 153/9 in 20 overs (Erin Fazackerley 35, Heather Knight 34; Stafanie Taylor 3-24). Sydney Thunder 156/4 in 17.2 overs (Naomi Stalenberg 55, Rachel Priest 40; Heather Knight 2-25). In another WBBL match Melbourne Stars beat Adelaide Strikers by four wickets.

Scores: Adelaide Strikers 144/7 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 46, Tegan McPharlin 41*; Erin Osborne 2-16). Melbourne Stars 145/6 in 19.3 overs (Erin Osborne 54*, Lizelle Lee 33; Sophie Devine 2-34).