Heat Beat Stars by 8 Wickets: Redmayne and Prendergast Chase 166 After Jones and Lanning's 108 Opening Stand

For 13 overs this looked like the afternoon the Stars' losing run would end. Amy Jones and Meg Lanning were 108 without loss, both past fifty, and a total near 180 was on the cards. They finished with 165, and that turned out to be about 20 short, because Georgia Redmayne and Orla Prendergast then batted as if the chase had been set for 140.

The Heat won by eight wickets with seven balls to spare. It is their third win in a row and lifts them to third. For the Stars, it is a fifth straight defeat, and this one came after they had led for most of the first innings.

The Heat's win started in the field, in the second half of the Stars' innings. Sarah Glenn broke the opening stand in the 14th over when Lanning top-edged to Annie O'Neil, and in the next over Sianna Ginger removed Annabel Sutherland for 2, O'Neil taking a diving catch. Prendergast bowled Dani Gibson, Redmayne stumped Jones off Ginger, and Lucy Hamilton bowled Georgia Prestwidge in the last over. From 108 for 0, the Stars made 57 for 5 in the last 41 balls.

The chase began fast. Charli Knott took 12 off the first over, and even after Grace Harris was caught at point off Kim Garth, the Heat were 57 for 1 after six overs. Sutherland bowled Knott for 30, and at 61 for 2 the Stars had a chance. They had a better one when Redmayne, on 29, was short of her ground, but replays showed Jones had dropped the ball before taking off the bails. Redmayne and Prendergast added 105 unbroken after that, scoring 32 in the two-over batting powerplay, and the game was over in the 19th over.

The Stars did plenty right. Jones and Lanning were 81 without loss at the halfway mark and reached their hundred stand off 74 balls. Then the innings stalled. Lanning, Sutherland, Gibson and Jones all fell between the 14th and 19th overs, and the late hitting never really came, apart from Prestwidge's 20 off 8 balls. Losing five wickets for 57 after a 108 opening stand is what cost them 180.

With the ball, Sutherland's 1 for 32 was the best of the attack, and Sophie Day went for 26 in her four overs. But once the Heat had 57 after six, the Stars were chasing the game, and the missed run-out was the one moment that might have changed it. Five defeats in a row have now come in different ways. The lesson from this one is the death overs with the bat.

Junction Oval had favoured the side batting first in four of its five games this season, and in our preview we wondered if the pitch would slow down as the afternoon went on. It did not. The Heat were 57 for 1 after six overs, scored 32 in their batting powerplay, and reached 166 with seven balls left. It was a good batting pitch all day, and the 165 was below par on it.

Redmayne's day began behind the stumps, where her quick hands removed Jones, the Stars' top scorer, for 74. Then she opened the chase with Knott, saw Harris and Knott go, and played the anchor's role at more than a run a ball. She hit 12 fours in her 74 off 50, reached fifty off 39 balls, and gave Prendergast room to play her shots at the other end. She had one piece of luck on 29, and she made the Stars pay for it.

We leaned to the Heat, narrowly, and they won comfortably. We named Knott as the in-form batter, and she made a quick 30. We named Redmayne too, and she won the game. On the Stars' side we said they looked a different team when Lanning and Sutherland batted together; Lanning made 52, but Sutherland fell for 2, and the bigger innings came from Jones, who we did not single out. We also thought around 160 would be a good total here, and that the side batting first had the edge. The Stars made 165 batting first and lost by eight wickets, so that part we got wrong.

The Heat are third on six points from five games, behind the unbeaten Scorchers and Sixers. They are at Bellerive Oval to play the winless Hurricanes on November 14. The Stars are seventh with one win from six and travel to Drummoyne Oval to play the Thunder on November 16.