Melbourne, June 19 (IANS) Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues will return to the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the second season after she was claimed by Brisbane Heat in the first round of the WBBL international player draft on Thursday.

After the Melbourne Stars used their third pick to make a play for the star Indian batter, Heat utilised their retention pick to secure Jemimah for a further season.

“Indian superstar Jemimah Rodrigues will return to the Weber Women’s Big Bash League for the second season in a row as she strives to lift the Brisbane Heat to the title this summer,” the Brisbane Heat said in a statement.

The right-hander was a stand-out for the Heat last summer as they won six matches in a row to make the WBBL final for the second time in as many seasons. The 24-year-old was the club’s second-leading scorer for the season, hitting 267 runs at a strike rate of 139.06, with the Heat finishing as runners-up to the Melbourne Renegades.

The top-order batter expressed her delight in returning to the Heat in a message to WBBL fans, saying, “I’m super, super, super excited to be rejoining you all back in Brisbane.”

Rodrigues is coming off a career-high last month, hitting her highest One-day International (ODI) score of 123 against Sri Lanka. She and Brisbane Heat captain Jess Jonassen played together for the Delhi Capitals in this year’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India where Delhi Capitals went close to snatching the title only to lose to Mumbai Indians in the decider.

The Heat also drafted West Indian allrounder Chinelle Henry with their third-round pick after passing on their second-round pick. The 29-year-old right-hand bat and right-arm medium pacer equalled the record for the fastest fifty in the tournament, scoring an 18-ball half-century. She finished the tournament with a league-leading strike rate of 196.

South African allrounder Nadine de Klerk was drafted in the fourth round, having previously signed a multi-year deal last season to tie her to Brisbane for WBBL 11.

The addition of Rodrigues and Henry takes Brisbane’s roster to 11 players, with four players left to announce. One of those four remaining recruits will be a signing that will take place after the T20 Spring Challenge, which will function as a lead-in competition for the WBBL.

WBBL Brisbane Heat squad for WBBL 11 (to date): Jess Jonassen, Nadine de Klerk (South Africa), Chinelle Henry (West Indies), Sianna Ginger, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Charli Knott, Grace Parsons, Georgia Redmayne, Jemimah Rodrigues (India).

–IANS

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