Athapaththu steers Thunder to crucial win over Perth

Chamari Athapaththu has continued her red-hot form at the top of the order to guide Sydney Thunder to a crucial nine-wicket win over the Perth Scorchers.

After a strong display with the ball by the Thunder attack restricted the Scorchers to 8-116, Athapaththu (77no off 53) hit her fifth half-century of WBBL|09 to steer her side home with 23 balls to spare.

A terrible mix-up with opening partner Phoebe Litchfield (8) resulted in the Aussie batter being run out in the third over, but after Heather Knight (32no off 34) joined Athapaththu the Scorchers were unable to make any further inroads.

The Sri Lanka star is now second on the league runs table with 451 runs from 10 innings.

The Scorchers remain on top of the table but missed a chance to officially lock in their spot in finals, while the Thunder moved up to second spot on 15 points – one behind Perth – to bolster their hopes of earning a top-two finish and a home final.

Earlier, the Scorchers’ star batters made tough going of it against the disciplined Thunder line-up.

Beth Mooney (26 off 19) made a bright start hitting five boundaries, but after she was out lbw to Lauren Smith (2-12) the wickets continued to fall regularly.

Sophie Devine (15) was bowled by Sammy-Jo Johnson, Nat Sciver-Brunt (8) had her stumps rattled by Smith, and while Amy Jones chimed in with a late 37 off 16, she had little assistance.

Spinner Sam Bates finished with 1-6, completing the most economical four-over spell in WBBL history.   (Cricket Australia)