It was one of the absolutely humungous achievements pulled up by Irish Women’s bowler Kim Garth, who is playing her trade for Melbourne Stars Women in the Women’s Big Bash League 2021.
Playing against the Sydney Thunder Women, the 25-year-old right-arm medium-fast bowler bowled three maiden overs in a row and also picked up three wickets to end up with magical figures of 3 overs 3 maidens, 0 runs and 3 wickets. She only conceded 12 runs in her final over bowling the final one of the game while defending 24 runs on board.
Courtesy of her amazing spell, the Stars notched up a 12 run win as they defended 108 against a batting lineup that had the likes of Indian superstars Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and hometown hero Hannah Darlington. This is now the third defeat in four games, one of which was abandoned due to rain for the defending champions, whose defence of the title looks very much in danger.
India star Smriti Mandhan failed once again with the bat as she was dismissed for three of 10 balls by Annabel Sutherland even as Garth continued her domination from the other end. In fact, the Thunder Women were reduced to 12-4 in the first four overs before India all-rounder Deepti Sharma, first with Anika Learoyd and then with Darlington put on partnerships worth 42 each. But that wasn’t sufficient for the two times champions to chase down 108.
Earlier in the day, choosing to bat first after winning the toss at the Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania, Stars managed to reach 108-7 courtesy of a half-century by experienced Elyse Villani. English import Maia Bouchier chipped in with a crucial 31 off 28 balls while the rest of the batters couldn’t even get into double figures.