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The Brisbane Heat demolished the Adelaide Strikers for the second time in three days, this time by eight wickets, in the WBBL’s New Year’s Eve blockbuster at Adelaide Oval. Beth Mooney was again the star, effortlessly compiling an unbeaten 81 off only 48 balls.
Adelaide were once again sent in to bat, and it was a case of deja vu when Suzie Bates and Tammy Beaumont found it hard to get the impressive opening pair of Sammy-Jo Johnson and Jess Jonassen (0/7 and 0/17 respectively from three overs) away, managing only 13 off the opening four overs.
The extra pace of Deandra Dotton and Delissa Kimmince yielded the first boundaries of the innings, but with two wickets in quick succession it was left to Bates (32 runs off 34 balls) to mount the rescue mission.
Unfortunately for the Strikers, runs continued to be hard to come by, and it was only Bridget Patterson who offered any sort of resistance. It was the second game in a row Patterson had scored 30-plus from third drop. The pocket dynamo looks to be in career-best form.
In the end the home side could muster only 119 runs, and it would prove to be well short of par.
Mooney picked up where she left off on Friday, blazing ten boundaries in her unbeaten 81 and striking at a phenomenal 168.75. This takes her combined score across the past two games to 167 runs off only 105 balls without being dismissed. At times she looked like she was just toying with the hapless Adelaide bowlers.
Kirby Short (27 runs off 39 balls) proved an excellent foil again for the aggressive Mooney, though a rash of waist-high full tosses from the Adelaide quick meant runs came far too easily.
Spin twins Alex Price (1/28 from four overs) and Amanda Wellington (1/17 from 3.2 overs) were easily the pick of the bowlers, though the commentators were scathing of Bates’ decision to delay bringing Wellington on until the 11th over. This was despite Mooney destroying the pace bowlers for close to ten runs per over and Wellington being the second leading wicket-taker for the tournament.
In the end it didn’t matter, and the Heat coasted to victory without breaking a sweat.
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Highlight: Mooney hit three of her opening six deliveries for four. Even allowing for the fact they were full tosses, it is a very good way to start an innings.
Lowlight: When the Heat’s powerplay went for 54 runs the Strikers had no chance of defending their small total.
Clutch play: Sammy-Jo Johnson was entrusted with bowling the opening over of the innings, and the 25-year-old did not disappoint, bowling an over of swing and change-ups that went for just three runs.
Matchwinner: There aren’t enough thesaurus entries to describe Mooney’s form over the past few months. More impressively, it is often done in the biggest games. She is a wonderful leader for her teammates.
By the numbers
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