The Brisbane Heat are one win away from a spot in the WBBL final after an all-round team effort helped them eliminate the Sydney Thunder by 44 runs at the WACA.
Neither team headed into Tuesday night’s Eliminator in terrific form, but the Heat delivered when it mattered most with their stars in the top order doing the damage as they posted 8/169 which proved more than enough on a bouncy deck.
There isn’t much time to celebrate with Brisbane back in action on Wednesday when they face the Scorchers in enemy territory, but a thumping win earlier in the season should give them confidence heading into the grand final qualifier.
Opener Grace Harris destroyed the Scorchers with a WBBL record knock when she hit an unbeaten 136, and she’s found some form at the right time of the year after she blasted 45 off just 22 on Tuesday to get her side off to a flyer.
It looked like the Heat could post something around 200 thanks to Amelia Kerr’s rapid 48, but a steady flow of wickets saw the runs dry up which mattered little in the end as their bowlers got the job done with ease.
GREEN WITH ENVY
The Thunder would have gladly taken a top-four finish considering they won just one match last season, but they’ll feel like they missed a trick this year with the 2023 squad good enough to go all the way.
They looked like premiership favourites midway through the season but paid the price for a poor finish as they dropped five of their final six matches to slip to fourth.
If they’d won just one of those games then they would have finished second and would have been preparing to host The Challenger tonight.
Their bowlers did a good job to limit the damage, with veteran Sam Bates becoming the first player in Thunder history to take 100 WBBL wickets.
But their elite batting unit misfired in Perth with an ugly run out sparking a collapse that brought their season to an end.
Player of the tournament Chamari Athapaththu was one of the stories of the competition, but it was a mixed night for the undrafted Sri Lankan star who was at fault for the run out and struggled to get going before she was dismissed for 41 off 40.
Rising star Phoebe Litchfield was out cheaply next over before big-name recruit Marizanne Kapp holed out for just two to continue her struggles with the bat.
The Thunder finished 9/125 with quicks Nicola Hancock (2-16) and Courtney Sippel (3-9) doing the bulk of the damage.