Annabel Sutherland's 57 and 3-34 beat Hobart as Meg Lanning returns as Stars captain

Annabel Sutherland made 57 from 36 balls and then took 3-34 as Melbourne Stars Women beat the defending champions Hobart Hurricanes Women by 18 runs at the Junction Oval

Sent in under the Junction Oval lights on the opening night of the Women’s Big Bash League season, the Stars posted 192 for 4 and then held the Hurricanes to 174 for 8.

Meg Lanning, back in charge of the Stars after Sutherland stepped down following two seasons as captain, anchored the innings with 71 from 52 balls. Sutherland then struck five fours and two sixes in a 36-ball 57 before returning the better bowling figures of the night.

Hobart, who won the title last season, were kept in the chase by Lizelle Lee’s 57 from 33 balls, but no other batter passed 32 and the required rate climbed through the middle overs.

Lanning sets the tone on her return

Lanning hit nine fours in a controlled innings that ran from the second over to the 18th, when Heather Graham trapped her lbw. It was her first Big Bash match in charge of the Stars since Sutherland took the role, and she had played down expectations of a change in style beforehand.

"I think I’m a little bit more relaxed, happy to go with the flow a little bit more," Lanning told cricket.com.au before the match. "I probably was a bit stuck in my ways back when I was doing it a few years ago."

The night was a first in several respects for the club. Richard Pyrah took charge of his first Big Bash game as coach, and England off-spinner Charlie Dean made her WBBL debut after joining the Stars alongside compatriots Amy Jones and Dani Gibson.

Sutherland pushes the Stars past 190

Sutherland came in at the fall of the second wicket and changed the tempo immediately, striking at better than a run a ball throughout. She too fell lbw to Graham, who finished with 2-31 from her four overs and was the only Hurricanes bowler to go at under eight.

Dani Gibson finished the innings with 22 not out from 11 balls, and the Stars added 34 from the last two overs. Thirteen wides in an extras column of 16 did not help Hobart either.

Rhys McKenna made 13 from 10 at the top and Amy Jones was run out by Lee for 7, but the Stars never lost two wickets in quick succession.

Lee keeps the chase alive

Lee answered with six fours and three sixes, and at the end of the powerplay the Hurricanes were ahead of the Stars’ own start. Kim Garth broke the opening stand by bowling Chamari Athapaththu for 10, then had Lee caught by Lanning to finish with 2-36.

Nicola Carey, leading Hobart for the first time, made 32 from 25 balls and Rachel Trenaman 24 from 17, but the pair were both dismissed by Sutherland and the innings never regained its early momentum.

Sutherland and Dean squeeze the middle overs

Sutherland had Trenaman caught at short cover, Carey stumped by Jones and Ruth Johnston caught first ball on her way to 3-34, and was named player of the match.

Dean’s four overs on debut cost 13 runs and brought the wicket of Graham, who had been Hobart’s most effective bowler an hour earlier. Gibson took 2-25, removing Maddy Green and Lauren Smith as the chase ran out of overs.

A title defence that began short of bodies

Carey took over the Hurricanes captaincy this month from Elyse Villani, who retired after leading the club to its first title. "It’s a huge honour. Big shoes to fill obviously," Carey said on her appointment. "Hopefully I can do half as good a job as Elyse did."

She inherited a squad already reshaped by injury. Danni Wyatt-Hodge withdrew, Linsey Smith hurt a quad at training and went for scans, and Callie Wilson was ruled out, bringing in Athapaththu, Maddy Green and teenage quick Ira Aery, who bowled two overs for 24.

"It’s certainly not the preparation we would have hoped for on the injury front," Hurricanes head of high performance Salliann Beams said last week.

Scorecard: Melbourne Stars Women 192 for 4 (Lanning 71, Sutherland 57, Graham 2-31) beat Hobart Hurricanes Women 174 for 8 (Lee 57, Carey 32, Sutherland 3-34) by 18 runs.

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