Sydney Thunder vs Adelaide Strikers scorecard, WBBL, Big Bash, Georgia Voll, video, highlights

The Thunder have sent an ominous warning to the rest of the WBBL after they posted the equal third-highest total in competition history to smash the Strikers by 64 runs thanks to career-best 92 to Georgia Voll.

A day after they beat the Hurricanes, the Thunder returned to North Sydney Oval and piled on 5-212 – their highest ever total – to hand the defending champions their second loss from three matches to start the new season.

And while skipper Phoebe Litchfield hit a sparkling 49 off 31, Voll was the chief destroyer with just the second half-century of her career as she smashed 92 off just 55 deliveries, including 12 boundaries and three sixes.

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Voll reached 50 just once during her first four seasons with the Heat, but dominated on Friday as she brought up 1000 WBBL runs before she fell agonizingly short of a maiden century after missing out in her first two knocks for her new club.

“It’s nice to get out there and have some fun. It was nice to be able to bat for a long time because I got out quite cheaply in the first couple of games,” she said after slipping down the order to bat ninth last year at the Heat.

“Definitely (that’s the best I’ve hit them). I’ve been up and down the order, so it’s nice to be settled at the top of the order, play my role really well and have the backing to play my shots.”

Voll shared a 54-run partnership for the opening stand and then added another 94 with Litchfield as the pair blitzed the Strikers with a barrage of boundaries to pile on 30 runs off seven balls midway through the innings.

Her departure didn’t slow down the run rate, with the hosts breezing past their previous highest total of 204 at the same venue last year, with the visitors only able to post 148 in reply.

Adelaide needed something special from their top order if they were to pull off a record run chase, but their star batters never got going with Thunder spinner Sam Bates striking twice in the sixth over to effectively kill off the contest.

After Ellie Johnston was caught in the deep, Bates had Strikers skipper Tahlia McGrath trapped in front for a duck as she finished with career-best figures of 4-21.

Katie Mack (51) and Maddie Penna (25) added 52 for the fourth wicket, but any hopes they had ended when Penna was brilliantly caught by Anika Learoyd as she balanced on one leg and threw the ball back to herself as she scrambled back into the field of the play.

The loss leaves the two-time defending champions with one win from their first three matches, with the Strikers to take on the Renegades on Sunday.

STARS WIN RAIN-AFFECTED CONTEST

A record-breaking partnership between veteran Meg Lanning and the exciting Rhys McKenna has powered the Stars to a thumping 32-run win over the Sixers whose big name batters crumbled in a rain-affected chase.

The healthy crowd of 2582 were treated to a batting masterclass from the Stars as the visitors posted 4-195, with 127 runs coming off the final 10 overs.

Lanning was at her brilliant best as she anchored the innings with an unbeaten 58 off 36, but it was McKenna who provided the fireworks with a swashbuckling 52 off 22, belting Ellyse Perry for back-to-back sixes to bring up her half-century off 21 deliveries.

McKenna played some ridiculous shots including a square drive over point for six, with the pair combining for the fastest 100-run partnership in WBBL history.

They took no prisoners on Friday night, with Sixers quick Lauren Cheatle going for 28 runs in her final over after her first three went for just 15.

The stage was set for Alyssa Healy to produce a knock trademark at the top of the order in her first game back from the foot injury that prematurely ended her World Cup campaign.

But the Sixers wicketkeeper was sent packing in just the second over when she edged a Kim Garth delivery when she was on four, but Healy wasn’t the only one to miss out.

Ash Gardner’s poor form continued when she fell for just one, taking her tournament tally to three runs from three matches, while Perry finished unbeaten on 31 before heavy rain forced players off the field with the Sixers 4-56 in the ninth over.