Image Credit- Getty
In their final regular season game, the Adelaide
Strikers, who are in excellent form, crushed the Hobart Hurricanes by 77 runs,
demonstrating that they are determined to win the WBBL twice in a row.
With Tahlia McGrath’s WBBL career-best bowling
numbers, which contributed to a batting collapse of 6 for 25, and Laura
Wolvaardt’s patient first innings (who, it was later revealed, will be
available for the final despite having been named South Africa captain), the
Strikers won the game on Sunday.
The Hurricanes were all out for 87 runs, their
sixth-worst total in a WBBL game, when chasing 165 runs to win at the SCG.
The Hurricanes’ chances of earning a spot were
officially dashed by the defeat, even though they would have required a small
miracle to defeat the Sydney Thunder and place fourth.
With six days to spare between games and a five-game
winning streak going into the tournament final, Strikers had already secured
the top rank on the ladder and the right to host.
Jemma Barsby, a spinner for the Strikers, started the
chaos with the ball when she took out Elyse Villani, a seasoned player, for the
first of six wickets that fell in five overs.
The Hurricanes were 41 for 1, but Captain McGrath was
the most effective with the ball, snaring Nicola Carey and Naomi Stalenberg in
consecutive deliveries to reduce the opposition to 49 for 4.
After Strikers were sent in, South African opener
Wolvaardt formed a steady 67-run partnership with Katie Mack to get the
ladder-leaders moving.
Wolvaardt brought her half-century up in the 16th over
with a single to deep square leg from Carey’s bowling.
She cut loose late with back-to-back boundaries in the
19th over, including her only six, before being caught in the deep from the
penultimate delivery of the innings. Strikers added 100 in their second 10
overs.