Sydney Thunder 128 for 1 (Athapaththu 69, Wilson 45*) beat Melbourne Stars 123 for 5 (Sutherland 42*, Darlington 2-13) by nine wickets
Last season the Wooden-Spooners went one win all season, and the Thunder now have a 4-1 record this summer and are looking like real contenders. Darlington and Adabath continue to be large parts of it.
After being overlooked in the overseas draft and only being scooped up by the Thunder just before the tournament, Atabatu has proven a point in the opening weeks. Sri Lanka’s 69 on Saturday is now the second-leading run-score of the tournament, following their 52 and 80 earlier in the tournament.
Earlier, Darlington took 2 for 13 from four overs on Saturday to back up 4 for 33 against the Renegades during the week. The 21-year-old made an impact right from the start, conceding just one run in the opening over before being run-out directly minutes later to remove Sophie Reid.
Meg Lanning managed to build enough pressure on the Darlington ball to be bowled out for 17 runs. Darlington hit the pad and gave not out, the Australian captain took a quick single and was sent back before being run out by Claire Moore. . In his next over, Darlington dismissed Alice Capsey for 17 runs.
Darlington, who made his Australian debut two years ago as a 19-year-old, is now returning to form for the Thunder.
While the Thunder are flying, the Stars have just two wins in their opening seven games and are in real trouble halfway through the tournament.
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