That's it from our coverage of the 17th match in the WBBL. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Deepak Prakash and scorer/analyst Paras Yadav. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.
Alana King (Player of the Match): "Yeah, the heart rate was definitely high, that's for sure. But it was an unbelievable win for us. We were really short with the bat, only managing to put up 107 or 108, and for us to defend that... well, what a performance. And, wow, how good was Ebony Hoskin in that last over? Credit to her.
You’ve got to believe. If you don’t, you’ve already lost it mentally. We knew what we had to do—keep the ball in play. We knew that a couple of wickets could really get us back into the game. Chloe (Ainsworth) at the top was brilliant, getting those two wickets in the powerplay. And, wow, I’m so proud of this group. This is unbelievable.
To be honest, I was just happy to get Dottin out after dropping her on the boundary. I knew we needed to get her out, and I felt like I’d cost us a few runs, so that wicket was the one I really cared about. But this shouldn't be about me. This is definitely a team effort that got us over the line.
We know the tournament is condensed, and every win leading to the back end will be crucial. There’s no time for warming up—it's all about grabbing momentum when you can. These wins at home are really important to us, and now, with some time on the road ahead, we’re hoping to take great confidence."
Player of the Match: Alana King
6:18 PM IST, 8:48 PM Local Time: A low scoring thriller comes to an end with Perth Scorchers winning it by a bare margin of 2 runs holding their nerves to defend 108 runs at their home soil.
Renegades won the toss and opted to bowl first with Alice Capsey proving the decision right claiming 5/25. Milly Illingworth and Hayley Matthews with identical figures of 2/15 helped bundle out the Scorchers for 108 in the final over.
The chase didn't go as planned as medium pacer Chloe Ainsworth removed Courtney Webb and Capsey in the first over itself. The middle order could never recover with only Deandra Dottin managing to get 40 in 27 balls.
Dottin hit 3 fours and as many sixes in her sizzling knock keeping Renegades alive in the low scoring thriller. She was dismissed in the 14th over with 32 more needed in 42 balls, the decision was referred by Scorchers with the initial call being not out.
Besides Dottin, Sarah Coyte held the fort with an unbeaten 21 in 31 balls but couldn't get the required 8 runs in the final over delivered by Ebony Hoskin.
Alana King (3/23) was the pick of the bowlers. Ainsworth (2/18), Sophie Devine (2/22), Amy Edgar (1/25) and Hoskin (0/17) were economic and produced magic in crunch situations throughout the innings.
With this win, the Scorchers move to the 2nd position in the table with 6 points to their name. Melbourne Renegades have 4 points to their name and stand 5th on the table.
OVER 20
Melbourne Renegades Women
106/8
Charis Bekker
4(8)
Sarah Coyte
21(31)
Ebony Hoskin
0-17(4.0)
PHEW! A stupendous bowling display from the Perth Scorchers Women as they managed to defend a paltry 108 runs in 20 overs.