That's it from our coverage of match 20 in the WBBL. An exciting encounter between the Heat and the Strikers from The Gabba. Thank you for joining in. Here's Ninaad Dixit signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Anirudh Modi and scorer/analyst Paras Yadav. Stay tuned for more action from around the world.
Jemimah Rodrigues (Player of the Match): "I am happy we crossed the line, it was a desperate win for us. I am happy with how we performed! We knew we had got a good amount of total but it was not par. The pitch here is good and the outfield is fast, we knew we would be under the pump.
The way we bowled at the start and the wickets in the powerplay, that set the tone for us. I think it was just for me to be clear on what I needed to do. Whenever I move, I need to have 3 options in mind and need to be clear about what I need to do if the bowler does not bowl there.
The bowlers gave us a fantastic start and they were brilliant to get the early wickets of some world class batters. The way Shikha di bowled the last over, hats off to her. She is someone who loves cricket and it's nice to see her finally get the results.
This is my first match here at home for Brisbane and it's a huge deal to come out here and have such a support. It's a dream come true."
4:53 PM IST, 9:23 PM Local Time: The Brisbane Heat win one of the most entertaining encounters of the season to defeat a strong Adelaide Strikers side by 8 runs at The Gabba!
The visiting Strikers side won the bat flip and elected to bowl first on a batting paradise with Smriti Mandhana making her debut for the Strikers. Jemimah Rodrigues starred with the bat for Heat scoring 61 in 40 balls to help them deposit the biggest first innings total at The Gabba - 175/6.
The Strikers did not start well losing their top 3 comprising of Mandhana, Katie Mack and Laura Wolvaardt inside the powerplay and were struggling for survival at 54/4 in the 10th over. Bridget Patterson then took over the reigns making her comeback and remained unbeaten alongside Madeline Penna in the end adding 113 runs for the 5th wicket.
Patterson smashed 5 fours and 2 sixes with Penna joining the fun with 10 fours as the duo scored 61 in 47 and 59 off 30 respectively but some tidy bowling in the early half of the innings from the Heat lineup ensured they took the 'W' by 8 runs in the final over.
Nadine de Klerk (1/6 in 1), Charli Knott (1/14 in 2), Lucy Hamilton (0/21 in 3), Shikha Pandey (1/32) and Nicola Hancock (1/33) were excellent in their execution and held nerves in the crunch over with Pandey defending 19 in the final over.
Adelaide Strikers lurk at the bottom of the table with just one win in 5 games with the Brisbane Heat moving third in the ladder with 6 points next to their name.