Sydney Sixers Defeat 164 for 6 (Perry 50, Tryon 41, Mathews 3-17) Melbourne Renegades 158 for 9 (Beaumont 43, Wareham 30, Seattle 2-23, Brown 2-26) by 6 runs
Defending 164, the winless Sixers were staring down the barrel of a fourth straight defeat when Renegades openers Tammy Beaumont and Hayley Mathews smashed quick half-centuries.
Beaumont was in a belligerent mood as he smashed three boundaries from seamer Jess Kerr in the first over. Mathews looked to give Beaumont a strike, but it led to his dismissal when he hit a slow ball from Brown to midwicket after trying to poke it on the leg-side.
Brown then dismissed Beaumont with a short-pitched delivery in the game-changing seventh over as the Sixers’ confidence grew and they tore apart the Renegades’ middle-order.
But there was a late turnaround in the 18th over when Georgia Wareham and Sarah Goyt both put on 26 and the Renegades went into the last over needing 13 runs for a remarkable victory.
But offspinner Ashley Gardner’s death and last season’s finalists Sixers, who were the last team to register a win in the tournament, should be relieved.
Without the formidable Healy, the Sixers’ top-order struggled in the powerplay and looked to in-form opener Suzy Bates to turn their fortunes around after they elected to bat.
Bats started well and seamer Georgia Prestwidge hit an impressive cover drive to the boundary as he reached double figures for the first time this season.
But Bates fell in frustration in the next over when he couldn’t clear the in-field and hit the offspinner Mathews at mid-off. Choked by Mathews’ accuracy, the Sixers again did not make much use of the powerplay, but unlike previous games they kept most of the wickets intact.
Perry and Gardner put on 68 runs to set the stage for six. Gardner used his legs effectively against leg-spinner Wareham, while Perry continued his strong start to the season with a devastating aim at midwicket as he reached his half-century.
The Renegades didn’t help their cause with a ragged effort in the field marked by sloppy fielding in the deep that led to several boundaries. But they took the wickets of Gardner and Perry as the Sixers were in danger of reducing the score to an even score on a batting-friendly surface.
Chloe Tryon was on 12 when wicketkeeper Josie Dooley missed the stumping and got the Renegades out.
Unleashing baseball-style clubbing, Tryon piled on 41 off 16 balls in the final over with a much-needed six.
It lifted the Sixers to a solid total, which they ultimately defended to claim a morale-boosting win.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth