It was another case of Devine intervention as the New Zealand international helped the Strikers to their second win of WBBL|02
Match Report:
ScorecardMatch recap: Strikers beat Thunder
Match in a tweet: Devine at her best again as the Strikers chase down 102 in just 17.5 overs to crush the Thunder.
The hero: Sophie Devine continued her stunning early season form with yet another composed innings of 43 from just 33 balls. Promoted up the order, Devine held the Strikers innings together by adding 65 for the second wicket with Bridget Patterson (27). Devine was brutal against anything remotely off line as she unleashed a series of powerful blows. Devine finally perished on 43 but by then the match already been won by the Strikers. Devine also managed to snare the prized scalp of Stafanie Taylor with her medium-pacers.
The support cast: It was a sensational effort by the Adelaide Strikers bowling unit to restrict the powerful Thunder batting line-up to just 5-102. Sophie Devine (1-8) and Tahlia McGrath (2-21) were seriously impressive with the new ball, while veteran spinner Shelley Nitschke (1-19) and emerging leg-spinner Amanda Wellington (1-15) also starred with the ball.
The consolation effort: Rene Farrell showed her skills with the willow with a cameo of 29no from 26 balls. Coming to the crease at 5-53, Farrell put on 49 with Naomi Stalenberg to propel the Thunder over the 100 mark. Farrell was conservative early in her innings before striking three powerful blows. She would back up her effort with the bat with respectable figures of 1-19 with the ball which included the wicket of England international Tammy Beaumont.
The wicket: It takes a pretty special ball to get through the defences of India superstar Harmanpreet Kaur and Tahlia McGrath produced an absolute peach to knock over the in-form Kaur for a duck. The ball was angled in from wide of the crease before just holding it's line to clip the top of off stump.
Next stop: The Thunder now have a week off before taking on the Renegades in Sydney on Boxing Day, while the Strikers return home to tackle the Hurricanes, also on December 26.