MS-W vs MR-W | Meg Lanning and Maisy Gibson power Melbourne Stars to top of table in WBBL

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ByVenkateswaran N, SportsCafe Editor

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Melbourne Stars beat Melbourne Renegades by 45 runs in the Women’s Big Bash League in Melbourne on Saturday. Meg Lanning’s half-century took the Stars to 160/5 before Maisy Gibson and Co. restricted the Renegades to pocket the Melbourne Derby, and take the side to the top of the points table.

‌Meg Lanning continued her purple patch to power Melbourne Stars to the top of the Women’s Big Bash League 2025 points table on Saturday. The former Australian skipper scored her fourth 50-plus knock this season as the Stars beat Melbourne Renegades by 45 runs in the Melbourne Derby. With the win, the Stars moved to 11 points with five wins from seven games, while the Renegades were at third with eight points.

After being inserted to bat at the Junction Oval, Lanning gave the Stars an excellent start with two boundaries off left-arm spinner Charis Bekker in a 13-run first over. Though fellow opener Rhys McKenna fell cheaply in the next over, the former Australian captain and Amy Jones ensured that they did not lose another wicket in the four-over powerplay to finish at 27/1. With Lanning, after the opening burst, taking her time to settle in, the English wicketkeeper-batter found the boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking. But Georgia Wareham broke the 62-run stand with the wicket of Jones, who walked back after hitting seven fours during her 33-ball 43, as the Stars stood at 76/2 at the halfway stage. Soon, Lanning brought up her fifty with a boundary off Deandra Dottin in the 15th over to start their end innings surge. Captain Annabel Sutherland (27) also joined in, smashing two consecutive sixes off Sarah Coyte, with Lanning also hitting a maximum in the last ball of the same over to plunder a total of 21 runs. Their 70-run stand in 43 balls took the Stars to a challenging 160/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Lanning top-scored in the game with an unbeaten 73 off 58 balls, which included seven fours and a six, while Milly Illingworth was Renegades’ best bowler on display with figures of 3/19 in four overs, with skipper Georgia Wareham picking two.

The Renegades never threatened to be in the chase, with a woeful start reducing them to 19/2 inside four overs. Deandra Dottin, who was promoted to open the innings, watched the batting unit unravel from the other end as Maisy Gibson’s double strike in her very first over had the Renegades on the mat at 39/4. The West Indies all-rounder tried to give some momentum to the chase with boundaries of Gibson in her next over, but McKenna came up with a surprise bouncer to end her 21-ball stay for 23 runs. From then on, the writing was very much on the wall, as the Renegades were shot out for 115 with 21 balls to spare. Nicole Faltum (23) and Issy Wong’s (20) cameos just delayed the inevitable and helped the batting side go past the 100-run mark. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Gibson led a clinical bowling display from the Stars with a spell of 3/17, with Kim Garth also chipping in with two wickets.

Blazing Form

Lanning Masterclass

50!

Fifty!

Unstoppable Meg

Half Century!

Dropped!

Costly Drop

Pure Class

Huge Miss

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