Wbbl

The symbolic gesture of taking a knee in support of racial equality spread around the globe an adopted by many sports in the aftermath of the death of an African American man, George Floyd, at the hands of the police earlier this year.

To some extent, the symbolic action has fizzled out in the sport of cricket, with some teams claiming other more concrete options in pursuit of equality are being pursued.  The WBBL has, however, continued to support the gesture and Taylor has been appreciative of it.

 "We have been taking a knee throughout the whole tournament and I am so pleased with the support I got from my teammate, it was really fantastic,” Taylor, who plays for Adelaide Strikers, told the Daily Telegraph.

“Sometimes I even forget, and Megan Schutt will say to me; Stafanie, don’t forget we’ve got to take a knee,” she added.

Taylor also thanked Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes for statements made by the teams and praised individual players from other teams for adopting the gesture.

“While I wish that all players from all eight teams competing in the WBBL this year were taking a knee, BLM is a global movement and I’m proud that cricket is helping to stamp out racism on and off the field.”

Coming in a number-five Taylor scored a 48-ball 60 that included seven fours and a six rescuing Adelaide from a precarious 26 for 4 and hauling them to a respectable 127 for 9 before being last out on the penultimate ball of the innings.

Only Amanda-Jade Wellington, who scored 21 from 22 balls, scored any runs of note to support the Jamaica and West Indies captain. Together they put on 43 for the fifth wicket which helped Adelaide recover somewhat from a disastrous start as Sophie Molineux (3 for 20) and Rosemarie Mair (2 for 14) wreaked havoc on Adelaide’s line up.

Needing 128 for victory, the Renegades got off to an equally bad start and were 12 for 3 after four overs.

Molineux was run out by a direct hit from Sarah Coyte at mid-off, Lizelle Lee was lbw trying to sweep Megan Schutt and Amy Satterthwaite, having made 1 off 10 balls, was bowled swiping at Darcie Brown whose four overs went for just 12 runs.

Georgia Wareham (42) and Courtney Webb (14) rebuilt, but Wareham's departure in the 14th over made it tough for the Renegades. However, Carly Leeson, who got 31, took 19 off the penultimate over to make things interesting but it eventually, the Renegades needed nine from three balls. It turned out to be a bridge too far.

Coyte (2-21) was the best of the Adelaide bowlers.