The Thunder pool rounds took place over the weekend, with the Flames scheduled to take on the relatively unknown Riverina Bullets and reigning champions, the ACT Aces.

Kelly, who coached the side, said they had modest expectations going into the competition.

"It was a bit of an unknown," Kelly said.

"We had quite a few new players into the team that personally I hadn't seen before, and no-one really really knew each other, which makes it hard to work out batting lineups and things like that.

"So we weren't sure how it was going to play out, and then we thought it was going to rain all weekend."

The Flames were scheduled to get their campaign underway on Friday, December 10, against the Western Outlaws, but the match was washed out.

Though conditions were far from perfect on Saturday, they were playable, so Illawarra took to the field against the Bullets at Brad Haddin Oval in Queanbeyan.

So flat was the wicket that balls rarely bounced above the knee-roll, making attacking shots difficult to time.

But despite the difficult pitch, Dharmini Chauhan compiled an innings at number three which kicked off a sterling weekend of cricket for the allrounder.

"Dharmini was a standout for sure," Kelly said.

"She missed the games with us last year due to a broken foot, so she was keen to get back in and play after missing out last season.

"She stepped up with the bat, batted really well, and surprised us with the bowling. We didn't know she was actually bowling spin, it's just a new thing I think since her foot injury."

Chauhan's run-a-ball 42 in the first game anchored the Flames' innings and, after entering the fray with the score at 1-18, she was the final wicket to fall as Illawarra compiled a total of 9-95.

Between innings, Kelly (who was the second-highest scorer with 23) was surprisingly calm about the prospect of defending a sub-100 total.

"Anywhere near 100 was going to be a decent score, but when you've got the likes of Jodie Hicks [who played for Riverina] in your side, who's an ex-state player and Big Bash player, she hits the ball very powerfully and we knew that if we get her out, we were in with a chance," Kelly said.

Hicks opened the batting and lived up to her reputation with a gritty knock of 45 from 44 balls before she was dismissed by the surprise offspin of Chauhan, who took 3-21 from four overs.

Once the former Sydney Sixer had been stumped, the rest of the Bullets' batters failed to fire and they crumbled from 4-62 to 8-94, giving Illawarra a one-run win.

After a narrow win in their first outing of the weekend, Kelly was wary of the second game against the ACT, who were fresh off a dominant nine-wicket victory against the Western Outlaws.

Not in her wildest dreams did she predict a 57-run win over the incumbent Regional Bash champions, but that's exactly what transpired after another sensational performance from Chauhan and a sterling opening spell from West Cambewarra's Naomi Woods.

"We were really surprised, to be honest," Kelly said.

"In the back of my mind, I would have reversed that whole game and we would have been the only getting bowled out for that score."

But what came to pass, after batting first once again and putting forward 5-93 thanks largely 47 from Chauhan, was a fielding innings in which almost everything went right for the Flames.

"We knew that there was a couple of key bowlers there, Naomi Woods being one, if she could take a couple of early wickets, that would rattle them a little bit, and she did just that," Kelly said.

Woods took 2-12 from three overs with the new ball, as her left-arm swing and pace proved too much for the ACT.

From the first over, when Woods removed Aces opening batter Janet King for a duck, Illawarra's bowlers hardly delivered a loose ball.

"Those young girls just amazed," Kelly said.

"Bowling line and length, I don't think ACT would be overly impressed with their shot selections and the way they batted. I think they probably approached the game thinking they were going to walk all over us, and our girls just knuckled down and didn't drop a catch or miss an opportunity."

The Flames ran through the ACT's batters, and with more than eight overs left had dismissed the former champions for 36.

As the only side to win both games, Illawarra finished top of the Thunder pool and will progress to the Regional Bash finals, which will likely take place in January.

Illawarra and Riverina will progress to the semi-finals from the southern pool, while the Newcastle Blasters and Coffs Coast Chargers finished first and second respectively in the Sixers pool and will fill out the other half of the draw.

Further details about the Regional Bash finals will be announced when available.

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