Perth Scorchers captain Sophie Devine was dismissed in a truly bizarre and slightly controversial fashion on the opening day of the Women’s Big Bash league at the WACA Ground in Perth. In what proved to be a pretty disastrous day for the Scorchers to get their seventh WBBL campaign started, Devine was one of opposing captain Ashleigh Gardner’s five scalps.
Having come in to bat at number four in the first innings, Devine was batting on 3 when she danced down the track against Gardner, looking to go big against the off-spinner. Devine was beaten after Gardner sharply pulled the length back, missing it altogether and turning back to see the bails dislodged.
However, it was a slightly uncertain dismissal, as wicketkeeper Emma Manix-Geeves hadn’t collected the ball cleanly, and seen it bounce off her gloves onto the stumps. Gardner reacted with a wry smile, knowing her wicketkeeper had gotten fortunate as the bails took half a second to tumble over.
It was a moment which caused some confusion after replays were shown on the big screen. The ball and Manix-Geeves’ gloves both seemed to make contact with the stumps, with the angle used not quite making clear which was first. The confusion led to Devine standing her ground, and responding with a sly smile of her own, refusing to walk off despite the third umpire giving her out at that moment.
{{/usCountry}}It was a moment which caused some confusion after replays were shown on the big screen. The ball and Manix-Geeves’ gloves both seemed to make contact with the stumps, with the angle used not quite making clear which was first. The confusion led to Devine standing her ground, and responding with a sly smile of her own, refusing to walk off despite the third umpire giving her out at that moment.
{{/usCountry}}However, having prompted further replays, it became clear that the ball had certainly made contact with the stumps and caused the bail to just fall over, while the wicketkeeper might successfully have avoided contact with the stumps altogether.
Gardner dominates with 5-fer
Devine’s wicket was Gardner’s first of the day, but it would only become better for the new Sixers skipper then onwards. She struck with the very next ball to dismiss Paige Scholfield, and would return later in her spell to scalp three more wickets. She finished with figures of 5/15 in her four overs, bowling out the scorchers for just 109.
In response, it was a very straightforward chase for the Sixers openers, who lost no wickets as they hauled the target down in 12.5 overs. English batter Sophia Dunley scored 61*, while Ellyse Perry had a good start to her tournament with 47* as the Sixers won by ten wickets.