The Perth Scorchers have edged into the WBBL finals frame with a dramatic super-over tie against the Sydney Sixers on Thursday.
Sixers star Ash Gardner took four wickets — plus a line-ball caught-and-bowled decision in the super over — as the Scorchers stumbled to 126 all out from 19.2 overs at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval.
Gardner snared a low catch off her own bowling to dismiss Scorchers star Beth Mooney in a moment that was discussed after the game.
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“It’s so hard to dissect, to get it to a level where you can make an informed decision,” Jason Richardson said of the catch.
Lisa Sthalekar added: “The side-on angle, it kind of shows that she has got some fingers under the ball.”
The Sixers posted 7-126 from their 20 overs, falling short of a regulation win despite Ellyse Perry’s fine 67 from 53 balls.
In the initial super over, Perry (12no) smacked a six and a four as the Sydneysiders made 0-15 from Amy Edgar’s spin bowling.
Perth then mustered 1-15, with Mikayla Hinkley hitting Gardner’s last ball for four to again tie the scores.
Both outfits receive one point, which lifts the Scorchers (nine points) from fifth to fourth, while the Sixers (eight points) remain in sixth spot.
“I actually feel a bit sick at the moment,” Perry told Channel 7 after the game.
“What a great game of cricket and I think that’s the most important thing. Really good contest between two sides that have a great rivalry. But it definitely hurts a little bit.”
The Scorchers and Sixers will both be keen watchers of Thursday night’s clash between second-placed Melbourne Renegades (10 points) and the fifth-placed Hobart Hurricanes (eight points).
The Sixers’ Perry starred with the bat and Gardner did likewise with the ball — she took 4-21 as the Scorchers dramatically lost their last nine wickets for just 31 runs.
After Gardner claimed her first wicket in the second over of the innings, Mooney (44 from 37 balls) and Brooke Halliday (41 from 32) produced a fruitful partnership.
The duo took the score to a solid 1-72 after 10 overs, but 23 runs later Halliday became Gardner’s second victim, ending an 85-run stand with Mooney.
Halliday’s dismissal triggered the slide. Mooney followed in the next over, and from then only Sophie Devine (11) reached double figures.
Gardner took four of the initial five wickets to fall, her feats leaving her teammates with a middling target.
Perry paced the chase, posting her half-century from 42 balls.
But the skipper was caught on the mid-off boundary from the bowling of Alana King (3-21) in the 18th over, and the legspinner struck again next ball, trapping Maitlan Brown leg before wicket.
That left the Sixers needing 20 from 15 balls, and the equation was 12 runs to win from the last over delivered by Edgar, who conceded 11.
Edgar was summoned to bowl the super over and Perry smashed a six and four.
Sydney stalwart Gardner then conceded the same amount, with Hinkley unbeaten on 14 from four balls — three of which she hit to the boundary.