Brisbane Heat have secured a spot in the WBBL preliminary final after crushing Sydney Thunder by 44 runs at the WACA Ground.
In reply to the Heat’s competitive 8-169, the Thunder could only muster 9-125 in Tuesday night’s elimination final.
Right-arm pace bowler Courtney Sippel starred with the ball for Brisbane on the way to 3-9 off four overs, while Nicola Hancock (2-16 off four) also played a key role in the win.
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The Heat now take on Perth Scorchers on Wednesday night, with the victor to face the ladder-leading Adelaide Strikers in Saturday’s grand final at Adelaide Oval.
“It’s pleasing to get the win tonight to go again tomorrow,” Heat star and player-of-the-match Amelia Kerr said.
“We’ve had a bit of travel to get here. Perth are a quality side, they’ve got some world-class players. We’re going to have to play well to beat them.”
MATCH CENTRE: All the stats from Heat v Thunder
The defeat was the Thunder’s sixth loss from their past seven games, capping a dramatic drop in form for a team that at one stage sat on top of the table.
“I think we just haven’t been used to it,” Thunder captain Heather Knight said of her team’s late-season struggles.
“We were at the top and maybe the mentality changed a little bit.
“Maybe looking back we lost a little bit of freedom and a few people maybe tensed up a little bit, and that’s a really good learning I think.
“I think this team should believe they should be in the top four. So having that mentality when you’re there I think is really important.”
It was at least a big improvement on last season, when the Thunder finished dead last with just one win to their name.
Heat opener Grace Harris (45 off 22 balls) and Amelia Kerr (48 off 32) anchored Brisbane’s innings in the elimination final.
Thunder pace bowler Hannah Darlington was expensive but snared three wickets on the way to 3-42, while Sam Bates (1-25) and Marizanne Kapp (0-26) ensured the Heat’s total didn’t edge closer to the 200 mark.
The Thunder moved to 0-40 after seven overs in a slow but steady start to the run chase, but the wheels fell off from that point.
Tahlia Wilson was run out for 12 following a nightmare mix-up with fellow opener Chamari Athapaththu.
Athapaththu, the WBBL player of the tournament, made 41 runs off 40 balls before edging a Sippel bouncer behind.
The star Sri Lankan was livid at the cheap nature of her dismissal, ripping off her glove and booting it away before collecting it and trudging off the ground.
Her departure sparked a collapse of 3-7 as Phoebe Litchfield (3) and Kapp (2) went cheaply, leaving the Thunder 4-66.
Sydney’s last remaining hope evaporated when Knight departed for 25 with the Thunder still needing 73 runs off 29 balls.