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Sixers star Ashleigh Gardner blamed the side’s first loss of the WBBL season on a handful of dropped catches after the Sydney side fell short by 30 runs against the Melbourne Stars in Hobart on Wednesday night.
The Stars set out their stall early with a total of 3-139, opener Annabel Sutherland top scoring with 57, then restricted the Sixers to 8-109 in the chase to notch their victory of the season.
Ashleigh Gardner had a good evening with the ball, but dropped catches in the field let the Sixers down.Credit:Getty
Gardner said the loss would be a learning experience for a Sixers teams that has several new faces.
“One of the things that didn’t help was we dropped about five catches. I think we dropped three alone for [Stars batter] Annabel Sutherland and she goes on and makes 50 which is almost a game-changer,” she said. “That’s probably what shot us in the foot.”
The Sixers had an underwhelming time with the bat, Ellyse Perry top scoring with a dogged 40 while attempting to produce some magic in the final overs of the game before being dismissed with the game out of reach. The Sixers ran out of puff in their chase to finish at 8-109.
Gardner praised Perry for her effort in attempting to save the match with the skipper coming in at four this season, rather than opening.
Annabel Sutherland was player of the match with a vital 57 for the Stars.Credit:Getty
“It’s obviously something she isn’t used to, her role now is to finish off those innings and be that rock throughout the back of the innings as well,” Gardner said. “Losses are good lessons. As a team, there is plenty of areas we can improve on and those will definitely be spoken about later on.”
Gardner (2-16 from four overs) was the pick of the Sixers bowlers in restricting the Stars to 3-139.