WBBL | Wareham wizadry and Webb wallops earn Renegades win over Heat in rain-marred season opener

Opting to field first, Melbourne Renegades got off to a brilliant start with the new ball. Charis Bekker and Milly Illingworth tied in the opening pair of Charlie Knott and Nadine de Klerk, before Tess Flintoff dispatched the latter in the final over of the first powerplay for a 12-ball four courtesy off a brilliant Georgia Wareham take. Nevertheless, de Klerk countered with successive fours to take the four-over score to 24/1 but two Wareham overs for just five runs once again curbed momentum. A 10-run eighth over presented hope but Jemimah Rodrigues fell the very next over for six as the Renegades ramped up the momentum. De Klerk's eventful 38-ball tstay for 40 finally ended in the 11th over when she tried to dance down the track against Alice Capsey and was comprehensively stumped. In came Chinelle Henry for her WBBL debut, and waited just one delivery before striking her first boundary. A first WBBL six followed two balls later but it was compatriot Deandra Dottin who bore the brunt of her blows with three fours in the 13th over. However, just when the Heat were beginning to flourish, Flintoff bagged Jess Jonassen before Wareham sent Annie O'Neil an Sianna Ginger packing in the same over to reduce Heat to 95/6. The collapse broke Henry's tempo, who dragged along for a couple of overs before nicking off to Wareham for a 22-ball 29. Georgia Redmayne made sure the team played out their entire quota with a 12-ball 16, while quick cameos from Lucinda Bourke, Nicola Hancock, and Lucy Hamilton took the side to 133.

Before the Renegades could take to the field for the chase, the heavens opened and persisted long enough to reduce the game to eight overs, with their revised target 66. Hamilton got the Heat off to the perfect start by scalping Englishwoman Davina Perrin first ball caught behind before Ginger sent Capsey and Dottin packing in the space of five balls to leave Melbourne reeling at 13/3 in their two-over powerplay. Courtney Webb, who had so far managed tof ace just two deliveries without scoring, got proceedings rolling thereafter with two fours off Hamilton in a 13-run over before adding a boundary each in the next two overs. Wareham joned the party by taking on de Klerk herself and by the end of the fifth over, the side needed just 20 off the final three overs. The duo stayed through to the end with an unbeaten 55-run stand of just 33 balls to secure victory with three balls to spare.

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