Brisbane Heat 6 for 139 (L Kimmince 40*, Glenn 4-31) beat Perth Scorchers 8 for 137 by four wickets
A stunning display of hitting from Laura Kimmince helped the Brisbane Heat steal victory from the Perth Scorchers and put them one step closer to a guaranteed finals berth.
The Heat slumped to 5 for 87 in the 15th over chasing the Scorchers’ target of 138. That left the Heat needing 50 from 34 balls with just five wickets in hand. But Kimmince, who delivered a 10-ball 23 in a winning chase against Sydney Sixers on Tuesday, produced another staggering cameo smashing an unbeaten 40 from just 17 balls to see her side home with four balls to spare.
Some of her strokeplay was breathtaking. Sarah Glenn had done all the damage for the Scorchers taking three of the first five wickets and was brought on in the 18th over with the Heat still needing 27 to win from 18 balls. Kimmince switch-hit the England spinner over point for six and swept her conventionally behind square for four in consecutive balls.
Glenn knocked over Amelia Kerr to finish with 4 for 31 but the damage was done. Kimmince clubbed two more boundaries off Heather Graham at the start of the 19th over to leave just 8 runs to win from 10 balls. Charli Knott hit the winning runs with four balls to spare.
Earlier, Kimmince also played her part in the field taking a spectacular one-handed diving catch at backward point to remove the Scorchers stand-in skipper Beth Mooney. The left-hander was cruising on 49 with the Scorchers on track to post a score above 150. But Kimmince’s freakish catch stalled all momentum as Kerr, Jess Jonassen, and Grace Harris squeezed the Scorchers lower order taking five wickets between them. Mathilda Carmichael made 35 from 23 balls to drag the total up to 8 for 137 after five Scorchers batters fell for single-figure scores.