Brisbane Heat 139 for 4 (Rodrigues 45) beat Melbourne Stars 138 (Garth 31*, Hamilton 5-8)
Rodrigues hit 45 from 31, smashing two big sixes down the ground and five fours before being deceived by an Annabel Sutherland slower ball.
Heat’s third straight win moved them back up into third on the ladder, while Stars’ season is now almost over with two wins from seven matches.
Hamilton was crucial, after the 18-year-old entered Sunday’s match without a wicket in her eight-game WBBL career. Weeks after finishing her QCE exams in Bundaberg and with her friends partying on the Gold Coast, she had the biggest day of her career.
After Sutherland got out of the blocks fast with 21, the left-armer bowled both her and Yastika Bhatia in her first over. She also had Meg Lanning caught behind for 13 edging a wide half volley, before having danger woman Tess Flintoff caught driving on the up to mid-off.
Hamilton then trapped Deepti Sharma lbw, becoming the first Heat bowler in history to take a five-wicket haul in the WBBL. Her figures sit second only to Megan Schutt’s 6 for 19 in the competition’s history, and level with Amanda-Jade Wellington’s two returns of 5 for 8.
“All my mates are at schoolies at the moment, on the Goldy living it up,” said Hamilton, adding she couldn’t believe what had just happened. “Going out there today I was just trying to back myself. Getting my first wicket and getting 5-fa, all the girls were getting around me. It was really exciting. I’ve had to be patient, played a few games, and it finally came and was really thrilling.”
Part of Australia’s Under-19 side, Hamilton will finally move to Brisbane in the coming months after routinely making the five-hour commute down from Bundaberg.
“I was talking to my bowling coach the other day, and it’s now about working on standing the seam up and just backing myself to swing the ball back in,” Hamilton said. “Progressive training will help that, but it’s having the confidence to be able to do that.”
Only late hitting from Kim Garth and Maisy Gibson gave Stars a faint hope, but Heat still chased the target down with ease.
