Women's Big Bash League: Sydney Thunder crowned champions for second time

Sydney Thunder on Saturday were crowned the champions of the Women`s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the second time. The side achieved the feat by defeating Melbourne Stars by seven wickets here at the North Sydney Oval.

The match was a no-contest as Sydney Thunder restricted Melbourne Stars to just 86/9 in the allotted twenty overs.

Thunder did not break a sweat in chasing down the total as the side achieved the target with 38 balls to spare.

Bowling first, Shabnim Ismail and Sammy-Jo Johnson scalped two wickets while all the other bowlers chipped in with one wicket each as Thunder restricted Stars to under the 90-run mark.

For Stars, Katherine Brunt was the top-scorer as she played an unbeaten inning of 22 runs. When the side came out to bat, Heather Knight played an unbeaten knock of 26 runs off just 19 balls to take her side over the line with five wickets in the bag.

Knight found support in Rachael Haynes and the duo formed an unbeaten stand of 33 runs to win their second WBBL title.

Thunder had won the inaugural edition of the WBBL in the 2015-16 season and then the side had to wait for four more years to win their second title.

Ismail was declared the 'Player of the Match'.

After the match, speaking about the title-winning campaign, Heather Knight said: "Credit to the bowlers, really chuffed about it. I`m really proud of all the senior players and the young players. We`ve been around the dressing room and got to know each other really well, played a lot of pranks. The younger players have done extremely well this season and I`m really proud of them."

Sydney Thunder had finished the group stage at the third spot, and then the side outclassed Brisbane Heat in the second semi-final.