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West Indies star Hayley Matthews has fired with bat and ball against Brisbane Heat at the MCG, powering the Melbourne Renegades to their maiden WBBL title.
The Melbourne Renegades have gone from bottom to top, claiming their first WBBL title after downing the Brisbane Heat by seven runs in a rain-affected final at the MCG.
West Indies star Hayley Matthews delivered an ultimate all-round performance with bat and ball on Sunday, defying a late cameo from Heat skipper Jess Jonassen.
The Brisbane allrounder, who is attempting to win back her Australian spot, almost single-handedly pulled her side to the title with an unbeaten 44.
But Jonassen's opposing captain, Sophie Molineux, kept her nerve by bowling a tight final over as the Heat finished on 6-90, short of their reduced target of 98 from 12 overs.
Matthews began by crafting a restrained 69 in a total of 9-141 after the Renegades were sent in to bat by Jonassen.
Her sparkling knock, coming from 61 balls, was the highest individual score in a WBBL final, breaking the record held by Australian star Beth Mooney (65) when she played for the Heat in 2019.
Matthews took the wickets of Charli Knott and Laura Harris in consecutive balls to end her first over, making it extremely difficult for the Heat to reach their target when they crumbled to 5-37.
The Heat, who lost last year's final against Adelaide, were already in trouble at 2-19 when the rain arrived.
Play was delayed for about 40 minutes, reducing the Heat's innings by eight overs.
With stars Grace Harris and Jemimah Rodrigues already dismissed, the Heat's challenge got even harder when power-hitter Grace Harris fell to Molineux.
After finishing last during the 2023-24 edition, the Renegades lost the first two games this season before catching fire to be this tournament's dominant team.
Matthews played a lone hand in the Renegades innings as teammates kept falling around her, with Georgia Wareham (21) posting the second highest score.
Emerging stars Charli Knott (3-26) and Grace Parsons (2-29) were the most prolific of the Heat's bowlers, but Jonassen (1-25) also sent down four handy overs.
The Heat will be ruing some sloppy fielding, especially early in the innings.
Laura Harris cost the Heat when she took a ping at the stumps with no back-up, resulting in four overthrows.
While Matthews was on fire, her fellow West Indies teammate Deandra Dottin was run out in horrific fashion after her bat got stuck in the ground just short of the line.
Dottin would have comfortably survived had she extended her bat properly, but got caught out by being too lazy.
After deciding to play the decider at the MCG, instead of the Junction Oval in St Kilda, when the Renegades won hosting rights, a crowd of 5844 turned on Sunday in a pass-mark result for Cricket Australia.
