Unbeaten Redmayne and Prendergast carry the Heat to a third straight win at Junction Oval

Georgia Redmayne and Orla Prendergast put on an unbroken 105 to carry Brisbane Heat past Melbourne Stars with seven balls to spare at Junction Oval

Brisbane Heat won a third match in a row on Thursday, chasing 166 at Junction Oval to beat Melbourne Stars by eight wickets in the 19th match of the Women's Big Bash League.

Redmayne, the Heat captain and wicketkeeper, finished on 74 from 50 balls with 12 fours, and Prendergast on 52 from 36. Their unbroken third-wicket stand of 105 from 71 balls turned a chase that had started badly into a straightforward one.

Melbourne Stars had posted 165 for 5 after Meg Lanning won the toss and chose to bat, but they lost five wickets for 57 from the moment their opening stand was broken.

Jones and Lanning build the platform

Amy Jones, promoted to open, made 74 from 52 balls with 10 fours, driving and cutting through a Heat attack that found little movement in the afternoon sun.

Lanning took the supporting role for once, reaching 52 from 45 balls with seven fours in a first-wicket partnership of 108.

That stand lasted until the 14th over, when Lanning was caught by Annie O'Neil off Sarah Glenn, who finished with 1-21 from her four overs.

Five wickets for 57 in the closing overs

What followed cost the Stars the match. Annabel Sutherland went for 2 from four balls, caught by O'Neil, and Dani Gibson made 7 from 9 before being bowled by Prendergast.

Jones was stumped by Redmayne off Sianna Ginger in the 19th over with the score on 148, and Georgia Prestwidge's 20 from 8 balls, with two fours and a six, ended when Lucy Hamilton bowled her in the last over.

Ginger was the pick of the Heat bowlers with 2-22 from three overs, and only 31 runs came from the final three overs of the innings.

Knott sets the chase going

The Heat lost Grace Harris for 2 in the second over, caught by Charlie Dean off Kim Garth, with 14 on the board.

Charli Knott answered with 30 from 24 balls, six of them fours, before Sutherland bowled her in the seventh over with the score on 61.

That left the Heat needing 105 from 79 balls, and they did not lose another wicket.

Redmayne and Prendergast finish it

Redmayne worked the ball square on both sides of the wicket for her 12 fours, while Prendergast, who had taken 1-36 earlier in the day, hit the innings' only six.

Garth was the most expensive of the Stars bowlers at 1-40 from three overs; Sophie Day conceded 26 from her four and Sutherland 32 from hers, but there was no wicket to check the pair.

The Heat reached 166 for 2 in 18.5 overs, the winning runs coming with seven balls in hand.

Three in a row for the Heat, a fifth straight loss for the Stars

Brisbane had gone into the match on two wins from four, and arrive at the top end of a congested table with a third.

They played the game with Mikayla Wrigley in the squad in place of Lucy Bourke, who was ruled out under concussion protocols after being hurt in the warm-up at Allan Border Field last Saturday.

The Stars, by contrast, have now won one of six. Their 165 was a competitive total in a season whose first-innings average of 160.1 is the highest the league has recorded, but it was not enough on a ground where they have now lost five in succession.

Scorecard: Melbourne Stars 165 for 5 (Jones 74, Lanning 52; Ginger 2-22) lost to Brisbane Heat 166 for 2 (Redmayne 74 not out, Prendergast 52 not out) by eight wickets at Junction Oval.