Hayley Matthes delivered an all-round masterclass in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday, December 1, to help Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat by seven runs and clinch their maiden title.
Matthews scored 69 off 61 balls and claimed figures of 2/24 to guide Renegades to a seven-run win (DLS method) over Heat at the G.
The match started with Heat's captain Jess Jonassen calling it correctly at the toss and electing to bowl first. Her decision was a good one as Heat's bowlers made early inroads into Renegades' batting order.
Renegades lost their opener Courtney Webb on the last delivery of the second over as Nicola Hancock struck for Heat. The pressure further mounted on Renegades after they lost their captain Sophie Molineux and Deandra Dottin inside the powerplay.
In came Georgia Wareham, who added 41 runs for the fourth wicket with Matthews to stem the flow of wickets. Wareham scored a run-a-ball 21 before getting out to Heat's star leg-spinner Grace Parsons.
After Wareham's wicket, Hayley took matters into her own hands and started accelerating aggressively. She added 45 runs for the fifth wicket with Naomi Stalenberg (16 runs off 12 balls) and didn't allow Heat to dictate terms to them.
Hayley chose the right bowlers to attack and struck eight boundaries during her knock. She batted till the third-last ball of Renegades' innings and got them to a respectable total of 141.
Batting allrounder Charli Knott was the pick of all the Heat bowlers as she bagged 3/28 in her four overs.
In reply, Heat's batting order fell like a pack of cards. Barring Jess Jonassen, who remained unbeaten on 44 off 28 balls, none of the other Heat batters managed to find their feet in the middle. Jonassen fought bravely as she batted at a strike rate of 157.14 but Heat fell short in the end.
