Ellyse Perry and Erin Burns provided Sydney Sixers a positive start in the tournament as the Sixers beat Brisbane Heat by 4 wickets in the tournament opener on Thursday.
Perry and Burns, both scored half-centuries in the process, while Nicole Bolton and Maitlan Brown provided a finishing touch to the side.
Earlier, Georgia Redmayne starred with the bat for Brisbane Heat as her knock helped the side to post a decent total on board.
Brisbane Heat Vs Sydney Sixers match highlights
Invited to bat, Brisbane Heat faced a shock when they lost their opener Grace Harris in the second ball of the games.
Wicketkeeper batter Georgia Redmayne and Georgia Voll then added 60 for the second wicket and managed to soak some of the pressure with their partnership. But as soon as Redmayne dismissed, the 2-time champions faced a bit difficulty to put on another strong partnership.
Redmayne was the top-scorer for the side. She missed her well-deserved fifty by just a single run. She smashed six fours in her knock of 49 off 39.
Voll, on the other hand, also played a steady knock of 32. She, however, took too many balls in the process, and her run-rate of 82.05 was not at all acceptable in the shortest format of the game.
It were Amelia Kerr (19 off 15) and Charli Knott (21* off 9), who pushed their side forward then with their small cameos down the final few overs.
Maitlan Brown bagged most number of wickets for Sydney (3). The Ellyse Perry took 2 wickets. While Lauren Cheatle, Sophie Ecclestone Angelina Genford took 1-1 each.
Sydney Sixers to chase 142 in 20 overs
In reply, The Sixers witnessed a truly disappointing start, as they lost their top 3 batters within the powerplay.
With only 25 on board, and target was still far, skipper Ellyse Perry took the whole responsibility of scoring the runs on her shoulders and played a superb knock of 55 off 48.
Erin Burns, also provided her much-needed support from one end, as they both set the platform for the Sydney Sixers to win the tournament opener.
Burns played her knock of 50 off 37 with a strike rate of 135.14. She hit five fours and a maximum during before leaving the field.
Both, however, lost their wicket at the crucial time, as the Brisbane’s skipper Jess Jonassen tried her best to turn the tables by removing both in a single over.
With 23 more to win in 17 balls, Sophie Ecclestone and Nicole Bolton took the game to a final-over thriller.
The Sixers required 8 to win in the final-over, and they lost Ecclestone in the process, with 5 more needed in the final 2. But, Maitlan Brown smashed a cracking six on the very first ball to help her side win the nail-biting match.
