Naomi Stalenberg's maiden WBBL half-century and Stafanie Taylor's bowling brilliance steered the Sydney Thunder to a comfortable six-wicket victory over the Hobart Hurricanes.
With mum Sandy watching proudly from the Manuka Oval stands, Stalenberg struck seven fours and two sixes in her career-best 55 as the Thunder (5-1) hauled in the Hurricanes' 9-153 with 16 balls remaining to catapult to the top of the competition ladder.
Player-of-the-match Taylor and skipper Alex Blackwell were both unbeaten on 20 after Stalenberg and opener Rachael Priest (40 off 21 balls) had put Hobart to the sword.
Heather Knight (2-24) dismissed both Stalenberg and Priest - the latter to a fine, diving outfield catch from Brooke Hepburn - and was the pick of the bowlers for the Hurricanes who were unable to capitalise on the blistering early pace set by Erin Fazackerley (35), Heather Knight (34) and Smriti Mandhana (29).
West Indian Taylor (3-24) was the chief destroyer, while spinner Sam Bates (2-16) kept things tight, as Hobart suffered a 5-11 collapse to slump from 3-128 to 8-139, handing the Thunder the upper hand.
"Our bowling unit has been doing really well," said Taylor who has snared a league-leading 13 wickets at 10.46 this summer.
"My job is easy - the captain said toss up the ball, so I tossed up the ball. My variations are working for me."
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