Litchfield steers Thunder to victory over still-winless Heat

A steadying 61 from Sydney Thunder skipper Phoebe Litchfield has guided her side to a morale-boosting 23-run win over the Brisbane Heat, who still remain winless with one match left to play in their WBBL|11 campaign.

The Thunder were in strife early having limped to a paltry 4-33 as Litchfield watched on from the other end, before the captain steadied the ship with her second half-century of the tournament to post a score of 7-153.

English spinner Sarah Glenn ripped through the Thunder's top order with a devastating 4-18 to cause early headaches, and was on a hat-trick with her first two wickets after dismissing Georgia Voll and Heather Knight.

The leg-spinner had only signed with the squad just days earlier following Nadine De Klerk's departure for international duties for South Africa, having previously represent the side for five matches in WBBL|09.

Luck was against the Thunder early on as technological blips in the DRS system prevented reviews from Anika Learoyd and Laura Harris getting the decisions overturned.

But even still, the Heat couldn't make some luck of their own with the bat, with another rejig to their order yielding little success as stand-in captain Charli Knott was dismissed in the first over.

Untried opener Lucy Bourke (18 off 22) and Sianna Ginger (28 off 24) offered much-needed resistance, however, it came at the cost of keeping the scoreboard ticking and keeping up with the ever-growing run rate. 

The Heat were suffocated by the Thunder's bowling offensive and their position only worsened when big-hitter Chinelle Henry was forced to retire hurt after copping a bouncer to the jaw off the bowling of Shabnim Ismail.

Ginger's own knock was undone courtesy of a brilliant one-handed caught-and-bowled from Em Arlott, whose subdued celebration added even more theatre to the exceptional effort.

Annie O'Neil's 33 and Mikayla Wrigley's 28 not-out prevented the Heat from a total collapse, however opportunities to close out the season with a victory – and avoid a winless season – are running out fast.

Weber WBBL|11 Standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Hobart Hurricanes Women HUR	10	7	2	0	1	0.662	0	15
2 Sydney Sixers Women SIX	10	6	3	0	1	-0.313	0	13
3 Perth Scorchers Women SCO	10	6	4	0	0	-0.132	0	12
4 Melbourne Stars Women STA	10	5	4	0	1	0.629	0	11
5 Melbourne Renegades Women REN	10	5	5	0	0	0.121	0	10
6 Adelaide Strikers Women STR	10	3	4	0	3	0.077	0	9
7 Sydney Thunder Women THU	10	4	5	0	1	-0.124	0	9
8 Brisbane Heat Women HEA	10	0	9	0	1	-0.869	0	1

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points