Perth Scorchers fell short of consecutive wins at Karen Rolton Oval this afternoon, going down to Melbourne Stars in a rain affected game.
Talking Points From WBBL Game Three
Below are the central talking points from the match, headlined by some economical performances with the ball by Lilly Mills and Chloe Ainsworth.
Mills quells power hitters in milestone match
Tasked with closing the innings in her milestone 50th Perth Scorchers game, Lilly Mills performed superbly under pressure. The crafty off-spinner conceded just one boundary ball in her four-over spell, despite bowling overs 10, 16, 18 and 20 to set batters. Mills removed dynamic allrounders Annabel Sutherland and Marizanne Kapp, finishing as the pick of the Scorchers’ bowlers with 2-22.
Ainsworth on song early
Rising star Chloe Ainsworth, meanwhile, played an exceptional role with the new ball. It took 17 legal deliveries for the Stars to score multiple runs off the bat from an Ainsworth delivery, with dangerous opener Rhys McKenna falling during the 20-year-old’s first spell. Having spent much of the calendar season to date recovering from injury, Ainsworth is building towards an important campaign.
East Coast tour rolls on
Today’s match at Karen Rolton Oval marked the halfway point of Perth Scorchers’ East Coast tour, with contests against Adelaide Strikers (Sunday 16 November, CitiPower Centre) and Sydney Thunder (Wednesday 19 November, Drummoyne Oval) to come. The cricket festivities will be in full swing when the squad returns, with the Ashes Afterparty (WACA Ground, Saturday 22 November) on the horizon.
Weather plays its part
With dark clouds looming ominously during the first innings of the match, it was no surprise rain played a part in the match. Rain and lightning saw the run chase cut short to nine overs and needing 95 to win. After originally needing a tick over eight-and-a-half runs per over to win, the revised target saw the Scorchers needing to go at more than 10 runs per over to make it back-to-back victories.