Brisbane: Sydney Sixers opened their WBBL 2026-27 campaign with a heart-stopping win, Sarah Coyte finding the boundary off the very last ball to seal a four-wicket victory over Brisbane Heat at Allan Border Field on Friday.
Chasing 155, the Sixers looked home and dry for much of the evening. Ellyse Perry, opening the batting, struck 58 off 38 balls to lift her side to 103 for 1, and the chase seemed a formality. But a late collapse of four wickets for 27 runs dragged Heat right back into it, and when the final over from Lucy Hamilton began, the Sixers still needed five runs — and then, with the equation down to two runs off the last ball, it was Coyte who held her nerve, squeezing a fuller delivery just wide of the backward point fielder for the winning boundary.
Alice Capsey’s unbeaten 21 off 14 balls had kept the chase on track during the wobble, while Sophia Dunkley contributed 37, but it was Perry’s innings that set the platform, and Coyte’s finish that decided it. The Sixers closed on 157 for 6 with exactly zero balls to spare.
Earlier, Heat had looked set for far more than the 154 for 5 they eventually posted. Georgia Redmayne (58 off 44 balls) and Charli Knott (57 off 47) put on 117 for the first wicket inside 15 overs, with Knott striking five fours and three sixes. But Ashleigh Gardner’s 2 for 25 broke the stand, Heat managed only 37 runs in their final five overs, and a total that had promised 170-plus ended up at least 20 short — a shortfall that proved decisive.
The defeat extends Brisbane Heat’s winless run in the WBBL beyond 700 days, a drought that now stretches back well before the start of this season. The Sixers, meanwhile, bank two points from their opener and next host the Hobart Hurricanes at Drummoyne Oval, while Heat will chase that long-awaited win against the Sydney Thunder at the same venue.
Read our WBBL season-opener reports here: https://t20star.com/volls-four-for-powers-thunder-to-six-wicket-win-over-renegades-in-wbbl-2026-27-season-opener/ and https://t20star.com/lanning-and-sutherland-power-melbourne-stars-to-18-run-win-over-hurricanes-in-wbbl-second-match/
Brief scores: Brisbane Heat 154/5 (Georgia Redmayne 58, Charli Knott 57; Ashleigh Gardner 2-25) lost to Sydney Sixers 157/6 (Ellyse Perry 58, Sophia Dunkley 37; Charli Knott 2-25) by 4 wickets.
