All-round Hurricanes make light work of Renegades to stay in contention for WBBL finals
Graham takes three while Carey and Strano pick two wickets apiece to restrict Renegades to 101 before Vilani leads Hurricanes home
AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Nov-2023
Heather Graham and Amy Smith celebrate the fall of a wicket • Getty Images
Hobart Hurricanes 102 for 2 (Villani 46*, Carey 25*, Matthews 1-17) beat Melbourne Renegades 101 for 9 (Matthews 39, Graham 3-12, Strano 2-14) by eight wickets
Hobart Hurricanes remained in the running to play in the WBBL finals after downing Melbourne Renegades by eight wickets for a second straight win.
Hurricanes' bowlers were outstanding on a traditionally good batting surface at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. Heather Graham, who was recently included in Australia's squad to tour India, Molly Strano and Nicola Carey limited the Renegades to just 101 or 9 after Hurricanes won the toss and elected to field.
Graham's three scalps continued her productive form which has seen her take 13 wickets in her last five matches. Meanwhile, offspinner Strano became the second player to claim 150 WBBL wickets.
Only West Indies superstar Hayley Matthews got going for Renegades, hitting 39 as wicketkeeper Josie Dooley was the only other batter to reach double figures. Renegades managed just seven boundaries for their entire innings with four coming from Matthews.
Hurricanes had little trouble during the chase, reaching the target with 14 balls to spare. Opener Elyse Villani bounced back from four lean matches with an unbeaten 46, while Carey hit 25 not out to cap off a handy all-round performance.
Hurricanes moved up to fifth in the win, one point clear of Sydney Sixers, with two games left. Renegades remained on the bottom of the table, with just two victories.