Sydney: Charli Knott played the innings of her life as Brisbane Heat ended a 706-day wait for a WBBL win, beating Adelaide Strikers by 14 runs at Drummoyne Oval on Thursday in the 10th match of Weber WBBL|12.
Knott, opening the innings, smashed a maiden T20 century — 104 from 61 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes — to power the Heat to 184 for 4. It was Brisbane’s first win since the Challenger final in November 2024, ending a 12-match losing streak in the competition, and it handed the Strikers their first defeat of the season.
Knott, who had averaged just 13 last summer and around 19 across her 70-game WBBL career, put on 57 for the first wicket with captain Grace Harris in just 11 balls, then changed gears after her fifty as a total beyond 200 briefly looked possible. She reached her hundred off 56 balls in the 17th over and moved to the top of the Golden Bat leaderboard before being run out in the 18th, barbecued by partner Yastika Bhatia, for 104, with Prendergast’s unbeaten 16 from six balls adding a final lift.
Adelaide’s chase was built around Laura Wolvaardt’s 75 from 48 balls and Madeline Penna’s unbeaten 68 from 45, but the Strikers never quite got ahead of the rate, finishing on 170 for 5 from their 20 overs. Sarah Glenn’s 2 for 19 led the Heat attack, and Knott herself bowled four tight overs to complete a player-of-the-match performance.
Only four of the XI remain from the side that last won, in the Challenger final in November 2024. “It certainly feels like we have won a final,” Knott said after the match. “706 is my new favourite number.”
The win lifts Brisbane off the foot of the early standings and reignites a campaign that had started with two defeats, while the Strikers suffer a first setback — and a reminder that in this season’s WBBL, no total is safe while Knott is at the crease.
