MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Teenager Hayley Matthews struck a tournament-best 44 in a Player-of-the-Match performance to help Hobart Hurricanes secure only their second win, in their final match of the Women’s Big Bash League here Sunday.
Defending a modest 131 at the MCG, Hurricanes held Melbourne Stars to 128 for seven, to come away with a narrow two-run victory.
Sent in, Hurricanes gathered 130 for six off their 20 overs, with West Indies star Matthews unfurling an attractive run-a-ball knock which included five fours.
She put on 38 for the first wicket with Stefanie Daffara (13) before adding a further 39 for the second wicket with Georgia Redmayne whose 40 came from 37 balls and included a single four.
Off-spinner Erin Osborne was the best bowler with three for 23.
In reply, Osborne top-scored with 30 from 29 balls but no other batsman passed 20, as Stars came up short.
They required 11 from the final over bowled by Matthews but the Windies off-spinner conceded only eight runs. Overall, she finished with one for 19 from a miserly four-over spell.
Hurricanes ended bottom of the WBBL standings with four points.
At the Allan Border Field in Brisbane, Stafanie Taylor’s Sydney Thunder got the better of Deandra Dottin’s Brisbane Heat by two runs, but both teams qualified for the final four of the tournament.
Neither Taylor nor Dottin had any major impact on the game.
