2021–22 Sydney Thunder WBBL season

The 2021–22 Sydney Thunder Women's season was the seventh in the team's history. Coached by Trevor Griffin, the Thunder entered WBBL|07 as the defending champions but ended the regular season in seventh place on the ladder, recording their worst finishing position across the league's first seven editions. Due to ongoing border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were not scheduled to play any games in their home state of New South Wales for the season.[1] After captain Rachael Haynes announced she would be unlikely to participate in the season due to family reasons, Hannah Darlington was appointed to stand in as Haynes' replacement.[2]

Sydney Thunder
2021–22 season
Sydney Thunder 2021–22 cap logo
Sydney Thunder 2021–22 cap logo
CoachTrevor Griffin
Captain(s)Rachael Haynes,
Hannah Darlington
Home groundN/A
LeagueWBBL
Record4–8 (7th)
FinalsDid not qualify
Leading Run ScorerSmriti Mandhana – 377
Leading Wicket TakerHannah Darlington – 16
Player of the SeasonSmriti Mandhana

Squad

edit

Each 2021–22 squad was made up of 15 active players. Teams could sign up to five 'marquee players', with a maximum of three of those from overseas. Marquees were defined as any overseas player, or a local player who holds a Cricket Australia national contract at the start of the WBBL|07 signing period.[3]

Personnel changes made ahead of the season included:

  • English marquees Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont did not re-sign with the Thunder in anticipation of a clashing schedule with national team duties.
  • South African marquee Shabnim Ismail initially re-signed with the Thunder but withdrew from the tournament due to injury.
  • Indian marquee Smriti Mandhana signed with the Thunder, returning to the league after previously playing for the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes.
  • Indian marquee Deepti Sharma and English marquee Issy Wong signed with the Thunder, marking their first appearances in the leagues.
  • Rachel Trenaman departed the Thunder, signing with the Hobart Hurricanes.
  • Corinne Hall signed with the Thunder, departing the Hobart Hurricanes.
  • Having planned to miss the opening weeks while on parental leave, Rachael Haynes announced she would only be able to re-join the team later in the tournament pending sufficient changes to state border closures.[4]

Changes made during the season included:

The table below lists the Thunder players and their key stats (including runs scored, batting strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches and stumpings) for the season.[6][7]

No. Name Nat. Birth date Batting style Bowling style G R SR W E C S Notes
Batters
29 Corinne Hall   12 October 1987 Right-handed Right-arm off spin 10 90 83.33 1
15 Rachael Haynes   26 December 1986 Left-handed Left-arm medium Captain, Australian marquee
4 Anika Learoyd   14 April 2002 Right-handed Right-arm leg spin 11 92 78.63 0 15.50 1
36 Phoebe Litchfield   18 April 2003 Left-handed Right-arm leg spin 13 263 109.12 9
81 Smriti Mandhana   18 July 1996 Left-handed Right-arm off spin 13 377 130.44 4 Overseas marquee
All-rounders
58 Sammy-Jo Johnson   5 November 1992 Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 11 146 125.86 10 7.66 1
33 Kate Peterson   3 December 2002 Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 7 0 0.00 1 10.33 3
14 Olivia Porter   14 November 2001 Right-handed Right-arm medium
24 Deepti Sharma   24 August 1997 Left-handed Right-arm off spin 13 211 106.56 13 7.15 8 Overseas marquee
Wicket-keepers
3 Emily Smith   19 January 1995 Right-handed 1 5 125.00 0 2 Injury replacement
21 Tahlia Wilson   21 October 1999 Right-handed 12 178 81.65 3 2
Bowlers
34 Samantha Bates   17 August 1992 Right-handed Left-arm orthodox 13 2 66.66 12 5.76 2
25 Hannah Darlington   25 January 2002 Right-handed Right-arm medium 13 60 105.26 16 6.38 4 Acting captain
12 Jessica Davidson   3 May 2003 Right-handed Right-arm medium fast
2 Lauren Smith   6 October 1996 Right-handed Right-arm off spin 13 41 105.12 4 8.66 3
8 Issy Wong   15 May 2002 Right-handed Right-arm medium fast 13 56 155.55 9 7.27 2 Overseas marquee

Ladder

edit
Pos Team Pld W L NR Pts NRR
1 Perth Scorchers (C) 14 9 3 2 20 0.649
2 Melbourne Renegades (CF) 14 8 4 2 18 −0.149
3 Brisbane Heat (EF) 14 8 5 1 17 0.517
4 Adelaide Strikers (RU) 14 7 6 1 15 0.707
5 Melbourne Stars 14 5 7 2 12 −0.385
6 Hobart Hurricanes 14 5 8 1 11 −0.258
7 Sydney Thunder 14 4 8 2 10 −0.301
8 Sydney Sixers 14 4 9 1 9 −0.704
Source: cricket.com.au,[8] ESPN Cricinfo[9]
  •   The top 4 teams advanced to the knockout phase

Fixtures

edit

All times are local


Match 3
16 October 2021
19:05 (N)
Scorecard
Adelaide Strikers
7/140 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
110 (19.2 overs)
Tahlia McGrath 42 (34)
Lauren Smith 2/17 (2 overs)
Corinne Hall 38 (35)
Tahlia McGrath 3/17 (4 overs)
Adelaide Strikers won by 30 runs
Blundstone Arena, Hobart
Umpires: Simon Lightbody and Mattis van Eck
Player of the match: Tahlia McGrath (Adelaide Strikers)
  • Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
  • Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
  • At 19 years and 264 days, Hannah Darlington (Sydney Thunder) became the youngest player to captain a team in a WBBL match.[10]

Match 12
23 October 2021
15:40
Scorecard
v
Match abandoned
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Claire Polosak and Muhammad Qureshi

Match 16
24 October 2021
17:15 (D/N)
Scorecard
Perth Scorchers
2/186 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
9/105 (20 overs)
Sophie Devine 101 (60)
Issy Wong 1/24 (3 overs)
Phoebe Litchfield 24 (34)
Alana King 4/11 (4 overs)
Perth Scorchers won by 81 runs
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Andrew Crozier and Simon Lightbody
Player of the match: Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers)

Match 17
26 October 2021
13:25
Scorecard
Melbourne Stars
7/108 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
5/96 (20 overs)
Elyse Villani 52 (63)
Issy Wong 2/19 (4 overs)
Deepti Sharma 44* (48)
Kim Garth 3/11 (4 overs)
Melbourne Stars won by 12 runs
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Andrew Crozier and David Taylor
Player of the match: Kim Garth (Melbourne Stars)

Match 19
27 October 2021
13:25
Scorecard
Melbourne Renegades
5/142 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
8/133 (20 overs)
Jemimah Rodrigues 75* (56)
Kate Peterson 1/10 (2 overs)
Smriti Mandhana 64 (44)
Courtney Webb 3/21 (3 overs)
Melbourne Renegades won by 9 runs
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Andrew Crozier and Roberto Howard
Player of the match: Jemimah Rodrigues (Melbourne Renegades)

Match 22
30 October 2021
16:05 (D/N)
Scorecard
Sydney Thunder
5/133 (20 overs)
v
Melbourne Stars
8/114 (20 overs)
Tahlia Wilson 53 (53)
Erin Osborne 2/25 (4 overs)
Elyse Villani 38 (31)
Deepti Sharma 3/25 (4 overs)
Sydney Thunder won by 19 runs
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Roberto Howard and Jeremiah Matibiri
Player of the match: Samantha Bates (Sydney Thunder)

Match 25
31 October 2021
10:15
Scorecard
Sydney Thunder
6/146 (20 overs)
v
Hobart Hurricanes
8/109 (20 overs)
Smriti Mandhana 50 (50)
Nicola Carey 2/36 (4 overs)
Mignon du Preez 41 (39)
Deepti Sharma 3/13 (4 overs)
Sydney Thunder won by 37 runs
University of Tasmania Stadium, Launceston
Umpires: Shawn Craig and Roberto Howard
Player of the match: Deepti Sharma (Sydney Thunder)

Match 34
7 November 2021
9:45
Scorecard
Sydney Thunder
7/143 (20 overs)
v
Brisbane Heat
5/144 (18.2 overs)
Phoebe Litchfield 40 (32)
Poonam Yadav 3/17 (4 overs)
Georgia Redmayne 57 (45)
Hannah Darlington 3/21 (4 overs)
Brisbane Heat won by 5 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: Claire Polosak and Harsimran Singh
Player of the match: Georgia Redmayne (Brisbane Heat)

Match 38
9 November 2021
17:30 (D/N)
Scorecard
Adelaide Strikers
4/176 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
6/158 (20 overs)
Dane van Niekerk 58 (46)
Sammy-Jo Johnson 2/25 (4 overs)
Issy Wong 43 (17)
Tahlia McGrath 2/20 (4 overs)
Adelaide Strikers won by 18 runs
Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: Nathan Johnstone and Simon Lightbody
Player of the match: Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers)

Match 41
11 November 2021
12:55
Scorecard
Perth Scorchers
2/184 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
1/21 (2.3 overs)
Beth Mooney 83* (53)
Hannah Darlington 1/32 (4 overs)
Smriti Mandhana 12* (8)
Marizanne Kapp 1/8 (1.3 overs)
No result
Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: D Bhatt and Nathan Johnstone
  • Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat.
  • No further play was possible due to rain.
  • Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel

Match 46
14 November 2021
12:40
Scorecard
Sydney Sixers
6/94 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
4/96 (15.2 overs)
Ellyse Perry 40* (40)
Hannah Darlington 2/15 (4 overs)
Smriti Mandhana 45 (39)
Lauren Cheatle 3/15 (4 overs)
Sydney Thunder won by 6 wickets (with 28 balls remaining)
Harrup Park, Mackay
Umpires: Stephen Dionysius and David Taylor
Player of the match: Issy Wong (Sydney Thunder)
  • Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Broadcast by Seven Network and Foxtel
  • Brisbane Heat qualified for finals.

Match 48
17 November 2021
18:05 (N)
Scorecard
Melbourne Renegades
4/175 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
2/171 (20 overs)
Harmanpreet Kaur 81* (55)
Samantha Bates 2/21 (4 overs)
Smriti Mandhana 114* (64)
Rhiann O'Donnell 1/25 (3 overs)
Melbourne Renegades won by 4 runs
Harrup Park, Mackay
Umpires: Joshua Adie and Nathan James
Player of the match: Smriti Mandhana (Sydney Thunder)
  • Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field.
  • Broadcast by Cricket Network and Foxtel
  • Smriti Mandhana (Sydney Thunder) equalled the WBBL record for most runs scored in an innings.[11]
  • Sydney Thunder were eliminated from finals contention.

Match 50
19 November 2021
18:05 (D/N)
Scorecard
Sydney Thunder
5/162 (20 overs)
v
Brisbane Heat
9/153 (20 overs)
Sammy-Jo Johnson 52 (36)
Nadine de Klerk 1/15 (3 overs)
Georgia Redmayne 54 (52)
Deepti Sharma 2/21 (4 overs)
Sydney Thunder won by 9 runs
Harrup Park, Mackay
Umpires: Joshua Adie and Steven Farrell
Player of the match: Sammy-Jo Johnson (Sydney Thunder)

Match 53
20 November 2021
14:40
Scorecard
Hobart Hurricanes
5/147 (20 overs)
v
Sydney Thunder
9/143 (20 overs)
Mignon du Preez 87* (61)
Samantha Bates 2/22 (4 overs)
Sammy-Jo Johnson 39 (21)
Belinda Vakarewa 3/8 (4 overs)
Hobart Hurricanes won by 4 runs
Harrup Park, Mackay
Umpires: Joshua Adie and Stephen Dionysius
Player of the match: Belinda Vakarewa (Hobart Hurricanes)

Statistics and awards

edit
  • Most runs: Smriti Mandhana – 377 (10th in the league)[12]
  • Highest score in an innings: Smriti Mandhana – 114* (64) vs Melbourne Renegades, 17 November 2021[13]
  • Most wickets: Hannah Darlington – 16 (equal 5th in the league)[14]
  • Best bowling figures in an innings: Deepti Sharma – 3/13 (4 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 31 October 2021[15]
  • Most catches (fielder): Phoebe Litchfield – 9 (4th in the league)[16]
  • Player of the Match awards:
  • WBBL|07 Team of the Tournament: Hannah Darlington[17]
  • WBBL|07 Young Gun Award: Phoebe Litchfield[18]
  • Alex Blackwell Medallist: Smriti Mandhana[19]

References

edit
  1. ^ "WBBL broadcast boost as schedule rejig completed". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Hannah Darlington named captain for WBBLI07". Sydney Thunder. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. ^ "Lock it in: all the final squads for WBBL|07". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Thunder skipper Haynes set to miss WBBL|07". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Tahlia Wilson set to miss opening match". Sydney Thunder. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Players | Sydney Thunder - BBL". www.sydneythunder.com.au. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 - Sydney Thunder Women Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  8. ^ "WBBL07 Standings". Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ Women's BBL Standings, ESPN Cricinfo
  10. ^ "Teenage Darlington becomes youngest WBBL captain". cricket.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021. Reference states "19 years and 262 days" in regards to the date of appointment, which was 2 days before Darlington officially performed the role of captain in a WBBL match.
  11. ^ "WBBL round-up: All-round Harmanpreet trumps Mandhana's 114 while Mooney, Devine lead Scorchers' domination". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Women's Big Bash League, 2021/22 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Official WBBL|07 Team of the Tournament revealed". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Tournament's leading players honoured with WBBL awards". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Tremain and Brown shine at Cricket NSW Awards". Cricket NSW. Retrieved 8 April 2022.