An unlikely hero emerged for the Melbourne Renegades, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Melbourne Stars in Saturday's WBBL clash in Ballarat.
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The Renegades lost to their Melbourne rivals by seven wickets in a Twenty20 match at Eastern Oval.
The Stars, 3-169, accounted for the Renegade's first-innings score of 165 with three balls to spare.
They did so despite a heroic innings from Renegades injury replacement Anna Lanning, who made a career-high run total in her first game for the club.
Her knock of 73 from 49 deliveries formed the backbone of her team's score, and likely secured her a place in the squad for the rest of the season.
"I'm pretty happy individually, but I'm pretty disappointed we didn't get the win," she told The Courier following the match.
"We didn't execute with the bat and ball as well as we would've liked, but we've got three games to go and they're all winnable."
An early wicket got the Renegades off on the right foot in the second innings, but a 103-run stand by South African duo Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez helped push the Stars to 1-99 after 12 overs.
A glimmer of hope emerged for the Renegades when Georgia Wareham dismissed du Preez and Lee in quick succession, 41 runs shy of the target.
But the Stars persevered - reaching the 165-run target with seven wickets in hand.
Lee's 62 off 46 laid the platform to victory for the run-chasers, in a performance that included four fours and three towering sixes.
Her partner in crime du Preez finished on 41.
"We knew the South Africans made most of the runs for the Stars, but they've got a great batting line up," Lanning said.
"They probably haven't done as well as they could've this year, but they've got some great players and we knew they were dangerous."
The loss presents a difficult situation for the fifth-placed Renegades, who now find themselves outside of finals contention with three games remaining.
"We've just got to be positive," Lanning said.
"It's disappointing but there are still areas we need to work on."
The match marked the second WBBL game in Ballarat in as many years for the Renegades, who are looking to establish a fan-base out west.
Lanning said she enjoyed the experience.
"I didn't know there was only 2000 people, it sounded like 10,000," she said.
The Renegades will look ahead to its next clash against the top-placed Brisbane Heat, which have won nine games from 12 WBBL matches.
