With a home Final already locked in, the Adelaide Strikers have defeated Hobart Hurricanes by 77-runs at the SCG to tie the record for most wins in a Weber WBBL regular season.
Equalling the Sydney Sixers mark of 11 wins last summer, the Strikers now wait to see who they will host in the WBBL|09 Final at Adelaide Oval this Saturday, December 2, with tickets to go on sale at midday tomorrow.
Mirroring a dominant all round performance against the Scorchers on Friday night to secure the Final, the Strikers delivered in all areas again today, highlighted by a trio of strong partnerships at the top of the order and a remarkable six different wicket-takers.
Skipper Tahlia McGrath earned Player of the Match honours with the brilliant figures of 3-8 from two overs in addition to a quickfire 22 with the bat. South African international Laura Wolvaardt produced the latest in a long list of vital knocks for the Strikers, not dismissed until the penultimate ball of the opening innings after accumulating 73 from 65 deliveries to drive the innings for Adelaide.
Sent into bat by Hurricanes skipper Ellyse Villani, Strikers openers Katie Mack and Wolvaardt set the platform with another 50-run partnership, their tenth as a pair. Consistent throughout the tournament, Mack added 24 at a run-a-ball to take her overall tally to 449, the second-best regular season return in her career.
McGrath then added a quickfire 22 as the Strikers looked to accelerate through the latter overs. A 20-run powerplay marked the switch in gears, and when Bridget Patterson replaced McGrath the boundaries began to flow with regularity.
Wolvaardt collected eight fours and a six on her way to another WBBL half-century, while Patterson needed just 12 balls to make a serious impact, belting 26 runs at a strike-rate of 216 in a partnership of 49 from 24.
Hobart got off to a flyer with openers Villani and Lizelle Lee, taking 31 from the opening trio of overs before Megan Schutt delivered the crucial breakthrough in conjunction with Patterson behind the stumps, finding Lee’s edge to dismiss the dangerous batter.
Villani departed shortly after when Barsby found a way through the gate to rearrange the stumps, a wicket that firmly asserted the Strikers dominant position in the contest.
The result was put beyond the Hurricanes’ reach just moments later, when McGrath took back-to-back wickets on the opening deliveries of her spell. Bowling both Nicola Carey and Naomi Stalenberg, McGrath stood tall as Hobart fell to 4-49, all but ending their season.
A third was soon to come for the international allrounder, supported by wickets to Dani Gibson and Amanda-Jade Wellington as the Hurricanes lost seven wickets for just 32 runs between the fourth and tenth overs.
It ended very quickly from there as Anesu Mushangwe took two wickets in an over, eventually bowling Hobart out for 87, well short of the required 165 to have the Strikers in red-hot form heading into an opportunity to deliver back-to-back Championships for Adelaide.
The Strikers now prepare for a third consecutive WBBL decider, and their first at Adelaide Oval, scheduled for Saturday evening with tickets on sale from midday Monday. With the record WBBL crowd in their sights, the Strikers urge South Australia to get behind the reigning champions by getting along to Adelaide Oval for what is sure to be a huge game with another title on the line.