Lightning strikes force WBBL game between Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades

[Glasgow]

FOR a team called the Strikers, you’d think lightning would bring good luck.

But instead, at Eastern Oval in Ballarat on Sunday, the lightning brought rain, wind and an abandoned WBBL game between the Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades.

It was disappointing for the Strikers, who had gone to Ballarat seeking redemption after losing by a whisker in game one of the double header the day before, as the Renegades hit a boundary on the final ball.

After winning the toss, the Strikers elected to bowl and their stacked line-up did not disappoint. Megan Schutt was superb, taking 2/9 from two overs. Then Alex Price claimed the prized scalp of Claire Koski (3) — a small dose of revenge, considering Koski had hit the winning runs the day before.

Import spinner Dani Hazell limped off at the 13-over mark, after succumbing to calf soreness.

Despite the niggles, Hazell had impressive figures of 0/12 from her four overs.

Then the lightning came, followed by a lengthy delay (with the Renegades on 4/83), as ground staff swept puddles from theoval and a large heat-blowing device was employed to dry out the pitch — a necessity considering there was a hole in the covers.

The Duckworth-Lewis Rule was enforced and the Strikers set a target of 78 from 11 overs.

Openers, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, were brutal, scoring 21 from the first 14 balls, before Devine was caught behind. But when the lightning struck again, the match was abandoned, with the teams splitting the points.

Devine said there were positives to take from the game.

“We thought we were in a good position and it was frustrating to come off at that first stage, but that’s cricket,” she said. “We had backed ourselves with the bat and we had a plan about how we were going to chase it down and how we were going toattack certain bowlers, but the rain beat us to it.”

The Strikers next head to Hobart on December 15 and 16, to take on Sydney Thunder.