During the Adelaide Strikers’ triumph against the Sydney Sixers at North Sydney Oval, Amanda-Jade Wellington delivered a crucial all-around performance, while an ugly incident caught up Bridget Patterson while she was taking a wicket.
In the fourth over of the Sixers’ chase, Darcie Brown hit Patterson in the face with a 119 kph delivery. The ball pitched in front of Patterson and kicked up, hitting close to her right eye. After a short while, Patterson was able to leave the field with the help of a doctor and physiotherapist. She remained at the location for the rest of the game and will undergo further evaluation in the days ahead.

“It was a nasty injury,” Strikers coach Luke Williams remarked following the workout. We were all obviously concerned about her, but it appears that she has not suffered any serious injuries. The cut was undoubtedly unpleasant at the moment.
Prior to the visitors’ first victory of their championship defense, Patterson had been instrumental with the bat as the Strikers’ middle-order launched a strong response.
The innings quickly deteriorated into a collapse of 6 for 18 as Ellyse Perry controlled the early parts of the chase with a 26-ball fifty. Sarah Bryce then made another impressive showing with 62 off 44 balls, but Megan Schutt dismissed her. Anesu Mushangwe and Wellington, both leg-spinners, were excellent in the last overs, with the former easily defending 14 off the penultimate.
Together, Patterson, Wellington, and Orla Prendergast scored 123 runs off 92 balls, including 32 runs from the two power surge overs. Wellington, in particular, finished with 40 off 16 after blasting over the boundaries with two sixes and three fours against Ash Gardner and Lauren Cheatle.
Cheatle had made early progress before Perry held onto a stinging return catch – with a juggle – to claim Laura Wolvaardt, but both efforts allowed Strikers to rally from 51 for 4 in the seventh over.
For the second wicket, Perry and Bryce scored 80 runs in 50 balls, with Perry hitting 11 boundaries despite the fact that a fielder dropped her at long-on on 17. Brown swiftly and excellently dismissed Perry after she top-edged a short ball to fine leg, and the Sixers faced yet another crushing blow when a fielder caught Gardner for a five-ball duck.
With the help of some bad catches by the Strikers, Bryce and 19-year-old Elsa Hunter, making her WBBL debut, scored 53 off 35 balls to bring the goal within sight, but they could not complete the task for a Sixers team suffering from injuries.
Read More: Afghanistan to tour Zimbabwe for historic Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests