Heat lose second straight as Day, Sutherland give Stars rare win

0
105
Alastair Cook announces retirement from professional cricket


Melbourne Stars 156 for 5 (Bouchier 41, Sutherland 37, Dunkley 37, Kerr 2-21, Hancock 2-36) beat Brisbane Heat 141 for 7 (Kerr 36, Redmayne 32, Day 3-16, Sutherland 2-33) by 15 races

Former Australia captain Meg Lanning has taken an indefinite break from the WBBL, less than two weeks after her retirement from international cricket.

Lanning missed the Melbourne Stars’ 15-run victory over the Brisbane Heat at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on Sunday due to personal reasons. With just two games remaining and Stars not reaching the finals, Lanning’s immediate future in the sport is uncertain.

“He will take a few days off for personal reasons,” Stars coach Jonathan Batty told the Seven Network. “They assure us that he’s fine, which is the most important thing, but we give him that time and space and respect his privacy in what he needs to do.

“We’re taking it game by game right now and we’ll give him all the time he needs to make that decision, but he’ll definitely be out for the next two games.”

Lanning has taken numerous breaks from cricket over the past two years and earlier this month announced he would end his historic career with Australia, saying he had lost his hunger to perform at international level.

Understandably, Player Of The Match Sophie Day Was In High Demand After

Understandably, player of the match Sophie Day was in high demand afterfake images

Young all-rounder Annabel Sutherland captained the Stars in Lanning’s absence as the Heat lost a second straight game.

In the chase, opener Georgia Redmayne, replacing Jess Jonassen who was rested due to hamstring soreness, started brightly but Sophie Day and Sutherland tightened the screws on Heat.

Day’s performance took her back to the top of the wicket-taking charts in what has been a great season for her.

While Kerr and Mignon du Preez were together, Heat had a chance to challenge for the target, but fell on consecutive deliveries: Kerr made an excellent catch off goalkeeper Sophie Reid and then du Preez bowled to Day, who was named Player of the Match for her 3. for 16.

The loss is a blow to the Heat’s hopes of hosting the finals as the leading team in the regular season.