Perth Scorchers beat Sydney Thunder by four wickets despite Heather Knight’s 71

Perth Scorchers defeated Sydney Thunder by four wickets at the WACA on Wednesday, reaching 160 for six with nine balls remaining in their Women's Big Bash League match. According to BBC Sport's scorecard, Heather Knight's 71 helped Thunder post 159 for five, but Perth completed the chase in 18.3 overs with Chloe Piparo and Chloe Ainsworth unbeaten.

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Thunder chose to bat and lost both openers inside four overs. Georgia Voll was dismissed without scoring by Ainsworth, while Phoebe Litchfield made 13 before being caught by Freya Kemp off Fatima Sana. Those dismissals left the visitors 18 for two, bringing Knight and Anika Learoyd together for the partnership that supplied most of their total.

Knight and Learoyd added 128 for the third wicket before Alana King bowled Knight with the score on 146 in the 18th over. Knight struck 12 fours in her 46-ball innings. Learoyd contributed 53 from 44 deliveries, including five fours and a six, before falling to Sophie Devine at the start of the following over. Nadine de Klerk finished unbeaten on eight as Thunder reached 159.

Perth also lost an early wicket, with Ines McKeon out for six to Sam Bates after three deliveries of the innings. Katie Mack and Devine then added 79, taking the score to 86 before de Klerk bowled Devine for 37. Mack made 31 before Jemma Barsby caught her off her own bowling, leaving the Scorchers 96 for three in the 11th over.

Thunder continued to take wickets during the middle stages of the chase. Lauren Bell dismissed Kemp for 10, Mikayla Friday was run out for 24 and Hannah Darlington bowled Fatima without scoring. The last of those wickets left Perth 133 for six after 15.3 overs, still needing 27 runs with four wickets available.

Piparo and Ainsworth supplied those remaining runs without another dismissal. Piparo ended on 20 from 16 balls and Ainsworth on 15 from eight, each hitting two fours. Thunder conceded 17 extras, including 11 wides. Bates, Bell, Darlington, de Klerk and Barsby each took one wicket, but none could remove the final pair before Perth passed the target.