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The Perth Scorchers are off to a sluggish start in WBBL06, beaten by reigning champions Brisbane Heat by 7 wickets at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.
Grace Harris' destructive 53 made light work of a chase of 133 for victory, the Heat winning with 18 balls to spare.
Brisbane won the toss and chose to bowl under overcast and gloomy skies, boom recruits Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine given their first opportunity to show their wares for their new franchise.
The pair got off to a fine start in adding 55 for the first wicket, Devine making 26 off 27 balls before falling to her New Zealand compatriot Amelia Kerr.
The innings was a stop start affair from that point on, Mooney run out for 37, having struck only one six in her 33 ball stay and no fours.
Amy Jones and Nicole Bolton both made 25 but fell in consecutive balls as the Heat's bowlers executed their bowling plans superbly, the Scorchers losing 5-10 in the final 11 balls of the innings to limp to a score of 7-132.
Nicola Hancock claimed 2-25 from her 3 overs, Delissa Kimmince with 2-26 while two run outs rounded out a fantastic fielding display from the reigning champions.
Piepa Cleary made an early breakthrough for the Scorchers when she removed opener Maddy Green for six, claiming a catch off her own bowling.
Former Scorcher Georgia Redmayne was the rock of the innings, allowing new Heat skipper Jess Jonassen (21 from 18 balls) to play freely inside the powerplay on the small North Sydney Oval ground.
Sarah Glenn removed the Australian all-rounder but that brought the destructive Grace Harris to the crease, dominant from the early stages of her innings to take the game away from Perth.
She would add 78 with Redmayne in the defining partnership of the match, Harris hitting five fours and three sixes in making a 37 ball 53.
By the time she fell to all-rounder Heather Graham the game was as good as done, sister Laura Harris in partnership with Redmayne when victory was secured with three overs remaining.
Redmayne carried her bat through the innings to make an unbeaten 37 from 35 balls, just what her side needed chasing a moderate total.
Cleary, Graham and Glenn each claimed one wicket for the Scorchers, who back up again on Monday to play Hobart Hurricanes at Hurstville Oval, who are also coming off a first up defeat having been thrashed by Adelaide Strikers by 8 wickets.
The other two matches were washed out as inclement weather arrived mid-afternoon in Sydney, meaning the Melbourne and Sydney derbies were no results, the latter without a ball bowled.
IMAGE: Cricket World.