Sixers teen's surprise hat-trick as Thunder fizzles out
Sydney Sixers rising star Caoimhe Bray needed to be told she'd taken a hat-trick as the 16-year-old added another WBBL highlight in a thumping derby defeat of the Thunder.
Bray took a wicket on the last ball of her second over and the first two of her next over in Sydney on Saturday, the third thanks to a fantastic diving catch at point from Erin Burns.
The excitement of that wicket may have been to blame for Bray and her teammates' poor maths, who were all shocked to hear of the feat when the ground announcer informed them over the speakers.
Bray is also the Junior Matildas goalkeeper and hit the winning runs as a 15-year-old in her WBBL debut last year.
She took a classic catch earlier in this tournament and on Saturday finished with 4-15 from her four overs and the Thunder finished 8-118 chasing the Sixers' 9-142.
"It's pretty crazy ... I didn't realise; one of those weird ones that was at the end of the over," Bray said.
"I want to play sport professionally for as long as I can (but) oh yeah, it'll definitely have to come (to a decision between football and cricket).
"Women's sport is getting more and more professional ... if you want to go to the highest level, you can't be doing that forever."
Maitlan Brown (2-18) was also effective on a night that favoured the bowlers but the Sixers will wait on scans for New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr, who injured her quad in the warm-up and was forced out of the game.
The Sixers had Sophie Dunkley (43 off 35) and Mady Villiers (24 not out) to thank for scraping together their total, while Alyssa Healy (26 off 15) threatened to explode.
But the Thunder's star-studded batting order failed to fire in reply, with 18-year-old debutante Lucy Finn (49 not out off 34 balls) valiant in a losing cause after they'd fallen to 7-49.
Finn (1-27) also picked up Ashleigh Gardner's wicket but the Thunder joined Brisbane at 0-3 after the Heat fell to Hobart earlier on Saturday at Drummoyne Oval.
Lee kept Hobart rolling, and Brisbane winless thanks to a power knock in their rain-impacted 16-run WBBL win.
The opener hit an unbeaten 59 off 45 balls, striking six fours and three sixes either side of a rain delay on Saturday.
The Hurricanes were flying before their innings was reduced to 12 overs, but they still purred to 1-114.
The Heat's target increased to 125, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (44 off 26) combined with Lee in a 106-run opening stand only ended in the final over.
Grace Harris (28 off 21) hung in as the Heat lost regular wickets attempting to maintain the scoring rate and finished 9-108 thanks to a last-ball six from Sianna Ginger.
Heather Graham (2-25) and Nicola Carey (2-10) proved too clever for the wide-eyed Heat batters.
The loss was the Heat's third-straight to begin the season while the Hurricanes sit on top of the table with three wins.
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