Renegades Beat Strikers by 36 Runs — Georgia Wareham's 73* Off 31 Turns a Good Total Into an Unreachable One

At the halfway mark of the Renegades innings, this looked like an ordinary afternoon. They were 78 for 2 at drinks, Hayley Matthews had just gone for 49, and the Strikers had spinners good enough to keep a total in the 150s. Then Georgia Wareham came in at 79 for 3, and the second half of the innings belonged to her. The Renegades made 110 off their last ten overs, and 73 of the runs after Wareham's arrival were hers.

It was the Renegades' second win in a row after two defeats to start the season, and it came against the side our preview called the stronger one on paper. The Strikers were not poor. They matched the Renegades almost run for run through ten overs of their chase. They simply had no answer to the back half of the first innings.

Sent in, the Renegades lost Olivia Porter in the fifth over with 36 on the board, but Matthews was already moving. Her 49 off 32 had ten fours and no sixes, all placement and timing, and she was out in the eighth over caught by Laura Wolvaardt off Anesu Mushangwe. Sophie Molineux was bowled by Tahlia McGrath for 7 three overs later, and at 79 for 3 the innings needed someone to change its pace.

Webb gave it a base. She was 16 at drinks, survived a Strikers review in the 15th over, and reached 50 off 40 balls before finishing 52 not out. Wareham gave it the acceleration. She reached 50 off 22 balls with three sixes, and the unbroken stand of 109 came off just 58 balls. The Renegades went from 100 in the 14th over to 150 in the 18th, and 188 by the end.

With the ball, the Renegades conceded 76 for 2 in the first ten overs and then took control. Illingworth bowled Bouchier and had McGrath caught by Wareham in the 13th over, and Vlaeminck took two wickets in three balls in the 17th. Vlaeminck's 4-1-16-2 in a match of 340 runs was the most economical spell of the day.

Chasing 189, the Strikers got exactly the start they needed. Emma de Broughe survived an lbw decision on review in the first over, and she and Bouchier put on 67 off 51 balls. Bouchier reached her fifty off 34 balls with seven fours. At 67 for 0 in the ninth over, the chase was on schedule.

Then it came apart. de Broughe was run out by Webb and Nicole Faltum, Wolvaardt was caught off Wareham for 2, and Illingworth's 13th over took Bouchier and McGrath. From 67 for 0 the Strikers were 97 for 4, needing 92 off 42 balls. Bridget Patterson and Madeline Penna added 26, but Vlaeminck removed Patterson and Amanda-Jade Wellington in the 17th over and the game was gone. Ecclestone's 20 off 13 made the margin smaller, not closer.

The harder question for the Strikers is about the ball. Ecclestone and Wellington, who squeezed the Stars in the season opener, went for 85 in eight overs without much to show for it. Larosa's two overs for 12 suggest she might have been used more.

Junction Oval in the afternoon was a good batting surface. Both sides passed 75 in the first ten overs while losing two wickets each, and the Renegades' 188 showed what was possible once batters were set. The difference was not the pitch but the partnerships: the Renegades kept wickets in hand for the last ten overs, and the Strikers did not. The Renegades also finished the match with an extra fielder inside the circle for the last two balls, a slow over-rate penalty that did not affect the result.

73 not out off 31 balls, six fours and four sixes, a strike rate above 235. Then four overs of leg-spin for 27 and the wicket of Wolvaardt, and the catch that sent back McGrath. Wareham came in when the innings was drifting and left it at a total the Strikers could only chase in theory. Some innings build a match; this one took a decent afternoon and gave it a second act.

Our preview said the Strikers looked the stronger side on paper and on early form. That was wrong on the day. We did say that if Matthews batted deep, the Renegades might post a total that tested Adelaide; she made 49 off 32, and the total did far more than test them. Our possible Renegades XI matched the eleven who played. We picked Matthews against Ecclestone as the match-up that could decide the game, and Ecclestone finished wicketless for 42. We also said a Dottin innings of any length would add 30 runs; she did not need to bat. On the Strikers side, our likely XI had Wolvaardt opening and included Johnston and Wilson; de Broughe opened and neither of the other two played.

The win takes the Renegades to two from four, on four points with the Heat and Thunder, fifth on net run rate. The Strikers have one win from three and travel to Bellerive Oval to play Hobart Hurricanes on November 10.