Sophie Devine stars again as WBBL finalists are decided

Sophie Devine slammed her ninth half-century of the campaign and picked two wickets to boot as the Strikers beat the Scorchers by eight wickets in Brisbane.

The Scorchers were restricted to 126/7 in the first semi-final of the day, despite Georgia Redmayne’s fighting 42-ball 51, with Devine taking 2/23 to provide support to Megan Schutt, who returned 2/14.

Then it was Devine’s turn with the bat. She hammered a 46-ball 65* to score more than half the target, and was supported by Tahlia McGrath (36 off 41) and Bridget Patterson (16 off 13).

The second semi-final on the day was a lot more of a contest. The Renegades were asked to bat, but they set the Heat a tricky 164-run target, thanks to Josephine Dooley’s 42-ball 50* and Jess Duffin’s 35-ball 44. Georgia Wareham also contributed with an important 8-ball 22.

However, the Heat ensured they were always in control of the chase. Beth Mooney and Maddy Green put on 69 runs for the opening wicket, with Green finding the fence regularly.

Molly Strano, the off-spinner, then dismissed both Green (46 off 29) and Mooney (15 off 18) off consecutive balls in the eighth over to give the Renegades a foothold, but Jess Jonassen (38 off 23) and Grace Harris (43 off 27) then led the fightback, putting on 80 for the third wicket.

However, Strano was brought back in the 16th over, and once again she dismissed both Jonassen and Laura Harris within three deliveries to reduce the Heat to 149/4. The Renegades then added the wickets of Amelia Kerr and Grace Harris to their tally, but the damage had been done as the Heat won with 12 balls to spare.

The final will be played at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Sunday.