Hayley Matthews produced a strong all-round performance but it wasn’t enough to help the Melbourne Renegades avoid a 28-run defeat against the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League in Brisbane, Australia on Wednesday.

The West Indian skipper first picked up 2-21 from her three overs as the Heat posted 169-8 from their 20 overs after being put in to bat.

Matthews was supported by Sophie Molineux who grabbed 2-35 from four overs while fellow West Indian Deandra Dottin took 1-27 from her four.

Georgia Redmayne led the Heat with 44 while Laura Harris made 31.

With the bat, Matthews made a 23-ball 35 at the top of the order in support of Naomi Stalenberg who led the Renegades with 38.

In the end, they could only manage 141-9 from their 20 overs thanks to some excellent bowling from the Heat.

Player of the match Grace Parsons led the way with 3-22 from her four overs while Shikha Pandey took 2-27 from four overs in support.

The Renegades now have two losses in as many games this season and will look to bounce back on Friday when they face the Perth Scorchers in Melbourne.

The Melbourne Renegades’ miserable eight-game losing streak in the 2023 Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) finally came to an end on Friday thanks to a dramatic two-run win over the Brisbane Heat at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

Captain Hayley Matthews hit her highest score of the season with 46 while Emma de Broughe hit 42 to help the Renegades post 169-7 from their 20 overs after the Heat won the toss and elected to field.

Nicola Hancock starred with the ball for Brisbane with 4-20 from her four overs while Grace Harris took 2-16 from two overs.

The Heat’s chase then fell agonizingly short of their target, reaching 167-9 from their 20 overs.

Grace Harris completed an excellent all-round performance with a top score of 65 but she was the only Brisbane batter to pass 20 with Jess Jonassen (17) and Nicol Hancock (17) both coming the closest.

Sarah Coyte took 3-26 from her four overs for the Renegades while Georgia Prestwidge was also among the wickets with 2-43 from four overs.

Matthews took 1-29 from her four overs, including taking the responsibility of bowling the last over and defending just six runs to seal the Renegades’ second win of the season.

Player of the Match Andre Russell’s six-laden half century and an MVP-like performance from Akeal Hosein helped steer Melbourne Renegades to a four-wicket victory over Brisbane Heat with four balls to spare in their Big Bash clash at Geelong on Wednesday.

Hosein took three wickets and scored a quick-fire 30 for Melbourne after Russell had bludgeoned them back into contention after a Michael Neser’s hat-trick had threatened to deny them victory.

Brisbane won the toss and chose to bat first but were two wickets down for 14 in the third over thanks to Mujeeb ur Rahman and Hosein who claimed the wickets of Max Bryant for five and Colin Munro for eight, respectively.

However,  knocks of 25 from Sam Billings, 29 from Matt Renshaw and an unbeaten Jimmy Peirson helped stage a recovery. However, after a partnership of 61 between Billings and Renshaw both were dismissed by Tom Rogers in the 11^th over as Brisbane slipped to 78-4.

It was soon 96-5 as Rogers dismissed Ross Whitely for 8 in the 15 over.

Hosein took the wickets of Neser (3) and James Bazley (0) in three balls in the 15^th over. Peirson smashed 45 from 30 balls with six fours to get Brisbane to a competitive 138-7.

Rogers ended with 4-23 while Hosein took 3-26 in another solid performance with the ball.

Melbourne’s relatively simple chase of just under seven runs an over, became extremely difficult when Neser ripped through the top order with just nine runs on the board.

He dismissed Sam Harper first ball and then Jake Fraser-McGurk from the final ball of the first over and then in his second dismissed Nic Maddinson for two and Johnathan Wells for a duck in consecutive balls of his second over to leave Melbourne facing defeat.

However, Russell and Aaron Finch staged a recovery would set the team firmly on the path to victory.

Russell hit two fours and six sixes and he and Finch put on 81 for the fifth wicket before he got out caught behind off Mark Steketee for 57 from 42 balls.

Hosein picked up from where Russell left off hitting two fours and two sixes in a 39-run partnership with Finch. He eventually holed out to deep midwicket for 30 from 19 balls off the fifth ball of Steketee’s final over with Melbourne needing just nine from seven balls.

Will Sutherland smashed Steketee’s last ball for a massive six over the midwicket boundary leaving Finch to hit the winning runs, a four over extra cover to seal with victory from Bazley’s second ball of the final over.

Melbourne’s third straight win means they have six points and only trail leaders Adelaide Strikers on net run rate.

Akeal Hosein and Andre Russell played key roles in the Melbourne Renegades opening its Big Bash League season with a 22-run win over Brisbane Heat at Cairns on Thursday.

West Indies Women captain Hayley Matthews’ top-score of 35 was not enough to prevent the Melbourne Renegades from a 21-run defeat against the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League in Mackay, Australia on Monday.

The Renegades won the toss and elected to field first, a decision that proved costly as the Heat’s Australian opening pair of Grace Harris and Georgia Redmayne put on a mammoth 165 for the first wicket.

Harris scored a 50-ball 65 including six fours and a six while Redmayne remained unbeaten on 98 from 67 balls including 12 fours. Laura Harris was not out on eight alongside Redmayne as the Heat eventually posted 180-1 from their 20 overs. Matthews was expensive, conceding 40 runs from her four overs without picking up a wicket.

In their reply, the Renegades batted decently but fell short of their target in the end, finishing 159-6 from their 20 overs. Matthews was good at the top of the innings with a quick 19-ball 35 including six fours while Carly Leeson ended not out on 34 against New Zealand leg-spinner Amelia Kerr’s 2-27 from four overs.

Matthews’ Renegades are currently fifth in the eight-team table with two points from as many games.

Carlos Brathwaite took four wickets which helped Sydney Sixers pull off Brisbane Heat by three wickets at Carrara on Saturday to move to the top of the standings in Australia’s Big Bash League.

Brathwaite returned figures of 4 for 18 that included the wickets of Chris Lynn, who top-scored with 56, the dangerous Joe Burns for 7, James Bazley for a duck and Mark Steketee for 2 as Brisbane were restricted to 148 all out.

Jake Ball took 3 for 25 from his too over to provide support to the giant Barbadian. Jackson Bird also weighed in with the ball taking 2 for 22.

Chasing 149 for victory, the Sixers were struggling at 54 for 4 before Captain Daniel Hughes’ 51 helped steady the ship.  Hughes’s dismissal in the 17^th   created jitters for the Sixers. Brathwaite lost his wicket six balls later for just 2 as Sydney slipped to 130 for 6, which opened the door for Brisbane.

However, Daniel Christian’s unbeaten 38-ball 61 took the Sixers home, hitting the winning boundary off the final ball of the match with his side closing on 152 for 7.

The win put the Sixers on 25 points, two points clear of second-placed Sydney Thunder while the Hobart Hurricanes are third on 19 points.