YESTERDAY’s action in the WBBL saw the first Melbourne Derby of the season and the second Grand Final rematch of the season.

Red rules Melbourne in first derby of the season

In the opening match of the day, the first Melbourne Derby of the season, the Melbourne Renegades emerged 15-run victors over their crosstown rivals the Stars. After posting 6/146, the Renegades then restricted the Stars to 9/131 from theirs.

None of the Renegades’ batters really lit the world on fire, with Alice Capsey’s 33 the best of the bunch. Interestingly though the wicket taking duties were all shred evenly, with every bowler used picking up a wicket. This included Capsey and Charis Bekker, with the latter only just coming in as an injury replacement for Sophie Molineux and was able to remove the crucial wicket of Meg Lanning.

Meanwhile for the Stars Marizanne Kapp and Annabel Sutherland each picked up two wickets, while Deepti Sharma down at seventh was the best of the batters with 23.

Brisbane repats history, alarm bells ring in Striker camp

Brisbane Heat defeated Adelaide Strikers for the second time this season, with the Strikers now firmly anchored to the bottom of the WBBL ladder. The Heat made 6/175 from their 20 overs before restricting the Strikers to 4/167.

Jemimah Rodrigues was the linchpin of the Heat innings, whacking seven fours and a six on her way to an innings of 61 off just 40 balls. In the defence, Shikha Pandey, Charli Knott, Nicola Hancock and Nadine de Klerk were the wicket takers.

Meanwhile for the Strikers Jemma Barsby took wickets, while all bowlers used except skipper Tahlia McGrath took one wicket each. In the chase Bridget Patterson (61 not out) and Madeline Penna (59 not out) tried their hardest to get their side over the line but it was not enough.