Darcie Brown hat-trick not enough for Strikers against Heat in WBBL
The Adelaide Strikers’ Darcie Brown has become the sixth woman in WBBL history to take a hat-trick despite her side’s loss to the Brisbane Heat.
Brown destroyed the Heat top order with three wickets in successive balls in the sixth over of the match, which had been shortened to 11 overs a side due to early rain.
Batting first, Brisbane had made a positive start to reach 1-57 before Brown took over.
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She removed Georgia Redmayne, caught by Katie Mack for 28, before drawing false shots out of both Ellie Johnston and Delissa Kimmince.
A tidy catch in the deep from Laura Wolvaardt completed Kimmince’s dismissal and Brown’s hat-trick, the first taken by an Adelaide Striker in the competition.
Young gun Georgia Voll got Brisbane back on track with a quickfire 31, setting Adelaide a target of 105 to win from their 11 overs.
Wolvaardt and fellow South African Dane van Niekerk laid a solid platform for the Strikers, reaching 0-68 in the eighth over only for Jess Jonassen to put the breaks on with two wickets in two balls.
Unlike Brown, Jonassen could not complete her hat-trick but the damage was done. Adelaide’s run rate slowed to a crawl and the Heat held on to win by five runs, Adelaide ending finishing up on 4-99 after its 11 overs.
The win moved Brisbane to the top of the WBBL table on net run rate ahead of Adelaide.