WBBL 2017-18: Melbourne Stars romp home with a nail-biting victory via countback

The Melbourne Stars Women secured a sensational victory against the Melbourne Renegades Women in the Melbourne derby game of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). The match witnessed a nail-biting finish as the result of the game had to be decided in an exciting super over in which the Stars won the game eventually via countback, which came into play after both teams finished at 118/6 each and then the super-over also resulted in a tie.

Stars all-rounder Alana King was comprehensive with both bat and ball, as she first played an important cameo and then was very impressive with the ball in the end. She was also adjudged the Player of the Match for her all-round match-winning performance.

Full story of the low-scoring thriller

Stars captain Kristen Beams won the toss and opted to bat first, but the openers failed to give their team a steady start, as they were reduced to 44/3 inside 8 overs. The Renegades bowlers kept on denting the opposition taking wickets at regular intervals.

In the end, Anna Lanning and Alana guided the team towards a respectable total of 118 runs, which gave their bowlers a probable chance. The Renegades bowlers were on the money and ended up bowling some economical spells.

In reply, Renegades were reeling in the same position as the opposition in the first innings of the derby. However, Kiwi left-hander Amy Satterthwaite held their innings together and produced the late-blitz which ensured that things went down the wire.

Stars bowlers Georgia Elwiss and Annabel Sutherland shared two wickets each to make the chase difficult for the opposition. Renegades also ended their 20 overs at 118/6, which meant that the result of this game would now be decided in the one-over eliminator.

In the Super Over, Stars had a terrible outing as they managed to score only 10 runs and lost four wickets in the penultimate moment of the game. The crowd witnessed an entertaining and a nail-biting finish to the match as Stars Women also failed to achieve the target of 11 runs in the final over.

The result was thus forced the Stars way as they scored 9 boundaries in the game as compared to the 8 boundaries tallied by the Renegades in the first part of the game. The Stars Women emerged victorious in the intense and exciting battle on the cricket field that witnessed complete madness and everything that this game can provide.

UNBELIEVABLE! It went RIGHT down to the wire and, with scores tied after the Super Over, @StarsBBL win on a countback! #WBBL03 pic.twitter.com/iiR35u5IT9

— Rebel Women's Big Bash League (@WBBL) January 20, 2018