Hobart Hurricanes 176 for 3 (Wyatt-Hodge 62) beat Brisbane Heat 173 for 5 (G Harris 75, Rodrigues 45)
England batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge did the heavy lifting as Hobart Hurricanes completed a record-breaking chase of 174, ending Brisbane Heat's undefeated start to the WBBL season.
A knock of 75 from Grace Harris, who opened for Australia at the recent World Cup when Alyssa Healy was injured, lifted Heat to a total of 173 for 5 at Melbourne's Junction Oval on Saturday.
It looked to be a competitive target but Hurricanes, having put down four catches, quickly seized control and secured a seven-wicket win with two balls remaining.
Wyatt-Hodge smashed 62 from 35 deliveries, earning player-of-the-match honours on what was comfortably a record-breaking day for Hurricanes. Their previous best WBBL chase came in October 2021, when they hauled in a target of 145 against Melbourne Stars. Wyatt-Hodge, among the most experienced T20 players in the world, and fellow opener Lizelle Lee set a sizzling pace while sharing a 55-run stand in the opening six overs.
"I thought the pitch was a little bit on slow side. I just kept it simple really, if the ball was in my areas then go for it," Wyatt-Hodge told broadcasters Fox Cricket. "Just play attacking cricket but being smart about it. I thought that was probably about par. We knew we could chase that if we put our minds to it and get our heads down. Me and Lizzie just wanted to make the most of the powerplay and stick to our strengths ... keep things simple and play aggressive cricket."
Lee's dismissal for 38 failed to curb the momentum of Wyatt-Hodge, who struck six fours and three sixes in her game-changing innings. Heat removed Nicola Carey, victim to a sensational catch from Nadine de Klerk, and Wyatt-Hodge then continued to rally, leaving Hobart with a tricky equation of 33 runs from the final three overs.
Legspinner Grace Parsons' economical haul of 1 for 15 from four overs, including the all-important scalp of Wyatt-Hodge, gave Heat genuine hope of victory. But Elyse Villani's reverse-swept boundary, her second four in a dramatic final over delivered by Charli Knott, secured the win.
Melbourne Renegades 145 for 4 (Webb 61, Matthews 41) beat Perth Scorchers 140 (Molineux 4-17) by six wickets
Melbourne Renegades' comfortable triumph over Perth Scorchers could prove one of the shocks of this season. Beaten in both of their opening games and wooden-spooners last year, Renegades bowled superbly to have heavyweights Scorchers all out for 140.
Sophie Molineux was particularly brilliant with a tournament-best 4 for 17 from her four overs, bowling Amy Jones and Chloe Piparo in the middle before helping clean up the tail.
All 10 of the Scorchers' wickets fell to spin, with Hayley Matthews, Alice Capsey and Georgia Wareham taking two each as the pressure continually told.
Beth Mooney hit 36 up top for the Scorchers, but after she fell trying to scoop Capsey it was only Alana King (26 off 15) that truly got going.
Renegades then made light work of the chase, with Courtney Webb hitting Chloe Ainsworth over the long-on rope in the first over and taking 12 off the next from spinner Lilly Mills.
In her 79th WBBL match, Webb finished with her highest score of 61, dominating a 102-run opening stand with Matthews that helped Renegades to victory with 14 balls to spare.
The result leaves Sydney Thunder top of the ladder ahead of Heat with two wins and one loss, while two-time defending champions Adelaide Strikers are last with a 1-2 record early in the shortened 10-round season.
