Melbourne Renegades complete fairytale journey with maiden WBBL title

Melbourne, Dec 1 (IANS) Melbourne Renegades have won their first-ever Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) title after defeating Brisbane Heat by seven runs via DLS method in a rain-affected final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. The triumph completed Renegades’ fairytale journey from the bottom to the champions.
Player of the match Hayley Matthews’ 69 runs off 61 balls guided the Renegades to 141/9 batting first, followed by contributions from Georgia Wareham (21) and Naomi Stalenberg (16), before a 30-minute rain delay reduced the Heat’s target to 98 runs in 12 overs.
After hitting the highest individual score in a WBBL final, Hayley then picked two wickets in one over to leave the Heat stumbling at 37/5 mid-way through the run chase, including losing Grace Harris (0) and Jemimah Rodrigues (1) in quick succession.
A spirited 44 not out off 28 balls from skipper Jess Jonassen kept the Heat in the contest, but the Renegades hung on to claim their first WBBL title, after being at the bottom of the points table last year, in front of 5844 fans, the highest crowd in stadium in this season. Hayley was undoubtedly named Player of the Final for her all-round heroics.
“Congratulations to the Melbourne Renegades on winning their first WBBL title in front of a season-high crowd at the MCG. Today’s Final capped a brilliant tenth edition of the WBBL, with growth in average viewership and attendances reflecting the world class cricket on display.
“We thank everyone who made Weber WBBL 10 so memorable, including our clubs, players, broadcasters, partners and venues, and look forward to the beginning of the BBL 14 season in two weeks time,” said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s Executive General Manager, Big Bash Leagues.
Cricket Australia (CA) also said the WBBL’s first Player Movement Window opens at 9:00 am from Monday for 10 days. It added that during the window, clubs can a) trade a player with another club, b) sign a player from another club who is in the final year of their current contract, or c) trade Overseas Player Draft positions as part or independent of player trades.
“Clubs may not extend existing player contracts during the Window, including those players in the final year of their current contract. These contracts may only be extended once the Contracting Embargo lifts in 2025.”
“WBBL clubs may have a maximum of 10 players on their list at the completion of the Window. Any pre-signed international player counts towards this maximum list size,” concluded CA.
–IANS
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