| Women’s Big Bash League, Sydney Showground: |
| Sydney Thunder 190-6 (20 overs): Knight 83, Haynes 39, Coyte 3-32 |
| Adelaide Strikers 132-8 (20 overs): McGrath 46, Smith 3-26 |
| Sydney Thunder won by 58 runs |
| Scorecard and table |
England captain Heather Knight made her highest Women’s Big Bash League score to help Sydney Thunder to a 58-run win over Adelaide Strikers.
Knight hit three sixes and 11 fours in her 83 from 39 balls, helping Thunder to 190-6 at the Sydney Showground.
That proved too much for Strikers, who reached 132-8, with Knight picking up the wicket of Amanda-Jade Wellington.
The England skipper is in her first season with Thunder, having played for Hobart Hurricanes in previous WBBLs.
The Sydney climate had not previously been kind to Knight this year – after England were eliminated from the Women’s T20 World Cup in March when rain washed out their semi-final against India, and then prevented a result being possible in Thunder’s first two WBBL games.
That had led Knight to tweet: “Any danger Sydney!!! 3 in a row for the weather.”
But Saturday’s knock, in which she shared a fourth-wicket stand of 122 with Thunder captain Rachael Haynes, eclipsed her previous best WBBL score, an unbeaten 82 for Hurricanes against Melbourne Stars in 2018.
This entire WBBL season is being played at various venues around Sydney with players remaining in bio-secure bubbles because of the coronavirus pandemic.
While Knight finally escaped the rain for once, the weather ended Perth Scorchers’ run chase halfway through their innings against Melbourne Renegades at Drummoyne Oval, but the Scorchers won by 18 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
England leg-spinner Sarah Glenn took 0-19 from four overs for the Scorchers, while team-mate Amy Jones was not required to bat.
Rain at the Showground then prevented a result in a reduced-overs game between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, whose innings was ended three balls short of the five overs they needed to face for a result to be possible.
