Sophie Devine shines as Scorchers down Renegades

Perth Scorchers jumped up to fourth in the WBBL 2025 standings after chasing down 151 set by defending champions Melbourne Renegades. A collective bowling performance by the Scorchers followed by a quick 24-ball 46 from Sophie Devine took the Western Australia-based franchise to their fourth win of the competition. Both sides are tied on eight points each with the Renegades in third while the Scorchers right below in fourth.

The Renegades, who were put in to bat, lost both openers cheaply while captain Sophie Molineux was dismissed for just five runs as the Renegades slipped to 34 for 3 after five overs. As soon as Renegades hit the 50-mark, Lily Mills had Alice Capsey bowled as the Renegades continued to stumble. Georgia Wareham too fell after a quick 21 but it was Nicole Faltum (41*), who along with Sarah Coyte (24), put on a 46-run stand in six overs to bring the Renegades back in with a chance of posting a respectable total. However, a couple of run-outs meant that the Renegades were bundled out for 150 in their allotted overs.

In reply, Beth Mooney and Devine got the Scorchers off to a perfect start. Devine was the more aggressive of the two, hitting Bekker for a four and a six in the first over before smashing three boundaries of Issy Wong in the second over. Even Molineux didn't escape the treatment with Devine taking her down too in a 15-run over. Coyte scalped the dangerous Devine but then Mooney began to tee off hitting Wong for two boundaries in an over as her night got harder.

However, there was a twist in the tale. Capsey, who had earlier picked up Katie Mack, bowled an outstanding 14th over where she picked up three wickets. Mooney was first stumped before Paige Schofield was caught and bowled two balls later. She capped the over with the wicket of Chloe Ainsworth. This put the onus on youngsters Freya Kemp and Lily Mills with the Scorchers requiring 32 off the last 36 balls. But the duo steered the Scorchers through to victory.

Brief scores: Melbourne Renegades 150 in 20 overs (Nicole Faltum 41*, Sarah Coyte 24; Sophie Devine 2-16, Chloe Ainsworth 2-17) lost to Perth Scorchers 151/6 in 18.4 overs (Sophie Devine 46, Beth Mooney 41; Alice Capsey 4-14, Sarah Coyte 1-11) by four wickets