Melbourne Renegades clinch maiden women’s Big Bash League title
West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews scored 69 runs and took two wickets to help Melbourne Renegades beat Brisbane Heat in a rain-hit win Impact Women’s Big Bash League Finals.
Renegades won by seven points in the DLS method to claim their first trophy in the tenth season of the championship.
Matthews led the charge, blasting 61 balls, but was bowled out for 141-9 in the final over.
The lid was closed on the Melbourne Cricket Ground as Heat tied the score at 15-2 and the rain started to fall on Heat in the fourth over.
Their innings was reduced to 12 and the Heat set a revised winning target of 98 runs.
But Georgia Redmayne fell to 16 shortly after the restart before Matthews struck out Charlie Knott and Laura Harris with successive catches.
Captain Jesse Jonathan tried his best to lead the team to 44 wins in 28 games without losing, but the Heat eventually suffered a second consecutive loss in the WBBL finals with a record of 90 wins and 6 losses.
“It’s just pure excitement. It’s been a long 10 years at the Renegades, a lot of highs and lows,” said Melbourne captain Sophie Molineux.
“This year has been great. I’m really happy for everyone involved. It really means a lot.”
