Heat Beat Strikers by 14 Runs — Charli Knott's 104 Ends a 706-Day Drought

Some wins are worth two points. This one was worth a good deal more. Brisbane Heat had not won a WBBL match in 706 days, and on Thursday at Drummoyne Oval they ended that run by beating Adelaide Strikers by 14 runs. Only four of the Heat side, Grace Harris, Georgia Redmayne, Charli Knott and Lucy Hamilton, had played in their last win, the Challenger in November 2024.

The game was built around one innings. Knott made 104 off 61 balls, with twelve fours and four sixes, and Heat reached 184 for 4. Strikers chased well for a long time. They needed 56 off the last six overs with eight wickets in hand, and then could only find 41.

Knott came into this game averaging under 20 across 70 WBBL matches, though she had been in good form on the recent Australia A tour of India. Here she looked a different player. She added 57 with Harris for the first wicket, reached 50 off 37 balls, and then went much faster, getting from 50 to 100 in 19 more balls. Her stand of 65 off 40 with Yastika Bhatia took Heat from 89 for 2 to 154. She was run out in the 18th over, left stranded by her partner, but the work was done. O'Neil and Prendergast took 29 off the last 13 balls between them.

Then Knott bowled four overs for 26. The decisive spell, though, came from the spinners. Sarah Glenn removed McGrath and then Wolvaardt, and finished with 2 for 19. Harris came on late and took 2 for 19 in two overs, bowling Bridget Patterson and having Penna caught off the last ball. Heat took two wickets for 26 runs in overs 15 to 19, and Strikers stopped finding the rope.

Strikers did a lot right. Wolvaardt reached 50 off 31 balls with seven fours, and her stand of 77 off 50 with Penna kept the chase alive after Maia Bouchier went for 0 and McGrath for 13. Penna was brilliant in the middle. She took 27 off the 14th over, bowled by Sianna Ginger, and finished with 68 off 45 with four sixes.

But once Wolvaardt fell to Glenn at 141 in the 17th over, the innings lost its shape. Patterson went an over later, and Ellie Johnston could manage only 4 off 7. With the ball, Sophie Ecclestone was excellent, 1 for 18 in four overs. The others went for between nine and twelve an over, and a Heat side scoring at that rate was always going to be hard to catch.

This was the first game of a Drummoyne double-header, and the pitch was good for batting. Both sides passed 170 and both reached 100 inside 13 overs. The bowlers who did well were the ones who took pace off the ball: Ecclestone for Strikers, Glenn and Harris for Heat. On a day like this, spin was the only real brake.

A hundred off 61 balls and four overs for 26. Knott scored more than half of Heat's runs, and the report notes the innings took her to the top of the season's run-scoring list with 177. Redmayne said afterwards that Knott was "absolutely outstanding" with bat and ball. It is hard to argue. Without her innings Heat do not get near 184, and without 184 they do not win.

Our preview did not pick a winner, and it got some important things wrong. It said both sides came in with winning records. Heat had not won a WBBL game in nearly two years, so that was simply incorrect. It named Jess Jonassen as one of Heat's key players, and she was not in this side. It highlighted the Strikers' bowling discipline, and they conceded 184. We were closer on Wolvaardt and McGrath as the Strikers' foundation, and Wolvaardt did make 75. But we did not mention Knott at all, and she won the match. We will check form more carefully before the next preview.

Heat have their first win at one from three and go home to face Hobart Hurricanes at Allan Border Field on November 7. Strikers are one and one, and play Melbourne Renegades at Junction Oval, also on November 7.