If not for the WBBL’s strict biosecurity rules, Shafali Verma might’ve gone out an bought a lottery ticket, because it was clearly her lucky day.
The Hobart Hurricanes have had their hearts broken by a gamechanging umpiring decision in Sunday’s loss to the Sydney Sixers.
Winning the bat flip and electing to field, the Sixers blew the Hurricanes off the park in the first innings at Hobart’s Blundstone Arena.
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Ellyse Perry has come under fire recently for lukewarm bowling displays at international level, but she wasted no time making her mark on the Sixers’ second match of WBBL|07.
By the time her first two overs were up, she’d sent both openers packing.
Any time the Hurricanes appeared to be finding their feet, the Sixers attack knocked them to the ground. Indian teen sensation Richa Ghosh helped the Canes save face with 46 at a run a ball but too many others did too little along the way to the 125-run total.
The Sixers made it hard for themselves chasing the modest score down.
Molly Strano, the leading wicket-taker in WBBL history, was quiet in her first match in Hurricanes colours, taking 0-26 in Saturday’s loss to the Renegades. She needed only two balls to get her name on the scoreboard in her second. Strano sent Gardner packing on three runs after Alyssa Healy was bowled for the same total.
A questionable umpiring decision prevented the Canes from gaining complete ascendancy during the power play.
When a Taylor Vlaeminck delivery struck Shafali Verma’s pad right in front of leg stump, it appeared the Indian international would be the third Sixers batter dismissed within four overs.
If not for the WBBL’s strict biosecurity bubbles, Verma might’ve gone out and bought a lottery ticket after the match, because it was clearly her lucky day. Subsequent replays revealed a clear LBW but the teen sensation was allowed to remain at the crease
It was just as well for the Sixers — Verma went on to top score with 57 runs.
Strano finally brought the curtain down on her innings, but by then, the Sixers were all but home.
Radical Radha
Sydney Sixers star Radha Yadav took a miraculous one-handed catch to dismiss Mignon du Preez in the third over of the match, ensuring the South African veteran was kept to single digits in both the Hurricanes’ first two hit-outs.
As if Yadav’s take wasn’t already dramatic enough, the decision was almost overturned when it appeared bowler Maitlan Brown may have overstepped.
The 24-year-old quick escaped by the heel of her sneakers — it was ruled there was enough of her shoe behind the line to constitute a legal delivery, so the blinder of a catch was allowed to stand.
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