Your ultimate guide to Tuesday’s showdown between the Brisbane Heat and the Sydney Thunder at the WACA Ground
The WBBL|09 Eliminator: All you need to know
How do the finals work and when are they?
Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder will meet in The Eliminator on Tuesday night at Perth’s WACA Ground after finishing third and fourth on the table.
The winner of that game advances to The Challenger, where they will play the second-ranked Perth Scorchers on Wednesday evening, also at the WACA Ground.
The victor then travels to Adelaide to play the top-ranked Strikers in the final on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.
The Eliminator: match facts
Who: Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder
What: The WBBL|09 Eliminator
Where: The WACA Ground, Perth
When: Tuesday November 28. Coin toss at 3:55pm local (6.55pm AEDT), first ball at 4:40pm local (7.40pm AEDT)
How to watch: Channel Seven, Fox Cricket, Kayo Sports and ABC radio
Buy tickets: tickets are on sale here
Live scores: Match Centre
Highlights, news and reactions after the match: cricket.com.au and the CA Live app
Officials: Eloise Sheridan, Stephan Dionysius (standing), Sharad Patel (third), Troy Penman (fourth)
The Squads
Brisbane Heat: Jess Jonassen (c), Mignon Du Preez, Lucy Hamilton, Nicola Hancock, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Bess Heath, Mikayla Hinkley, Amelia Kerr, Charli Knott, Georgia Redmayne, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll
Sydney Thunder: Heather Knight (c), Chamari Athapaththu, Sam Bates, Paris Bowdler, Hannah Darlington, Ebony Hoskin, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Marizanne Kapp, Anika Learoyd, Phoebe Litchfield, Claire Moore, Olivia Porter, Lauren Smith, Tahlia Wilson
Both teams go in with unchanged squads and are unlikely to make any changes to their XIs either as they head into The Eliminator.
Laura Harris is back for the Heat after missing their first 13 games, featuring in their last regular season match. The Thunder had Hannah Darlington back on board for their local derby against the Sixers on Sunday after she missed the previous game with soreness.
Possible Brisbane Heat XI: Grace Harris, Georgia Redmayne (wk), Amelia Kerr, Mignon du Preez, Charli Knott, Jessica Jonassen (c), Laura Harris, Bess Heath, Georgia Voll, Nicola Hancock, Courtney Sippel
Possible Sydney Thunder XI: Chamari Athapaththu, Phoebe Litchfield, Heather Knight (c), Marizanne Kapp, Anika Learoyd, Tahlia Wilson (wk), Olivia Porter, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Hannah Darlington, Lauren Smith, Sam Bates
What happens if it's washed out?
Thankfully there's no rain forecast for Perth on Tuesday but if there was a washout, the Heat would progress to The Challenger as the higher-ranked qualifier.
And what about a tie?
The game will go to a super over. The one over per side decider will be used if scores finish level, with an unlimited amount of subsequent super overs to be played if the ties keep coming, conditional on conditions and time restrictions.
If no super over (or further super overs) are possible, the team which finished higher on the table will be declared the winner.
Recent form
Most recent first. W: win, L: loss, N: no result
Brisbane Heat: WLLLWWLLWLWWWW
Sydney Thunder: LLLWLLWnrWWWLWW
The two teams’ campaigns have followed similar trends, both starting off strongly but tapering off as finals approached.
The Heat won their first four games, and after 10 matches had a 7-3 record, but they lost their next three matches before fighting back to defeat the Thunder in their last round match.
The Thunder, who finished bottom of the table with a single win last season, also had an outstanding start to WBBL|09 winning five of their first six matches. But they have also had their concerns approaching the business end, losing five of their last six including the last three on the trot.
Head-to-head this season
Honours were split this season. The first time they met at North Sydney Oval, the Thunder hit the club's highest-ever total before holding on for an eight-run win.
Led by openers Tahlia Wilson and Chamari Athapaththu, the Thunder smashed 4-204 at North Sydney Oval.
The Heat were gallant in reply to get the equation down to 24 off the final over, before Jess Jonassen whacked two sixes of Marizanne Kapp to make it 10 needed off two balls.
But the South African bowler held her nerve and the Heat finished on 5-196. Laura Harris produced unforgettable maiden half-century to hoist the Heat to a four-wicket win.
In the second game – notably, just last Friday at Adelaide Oval – the Heat snapped a three-game losing streak to knock off the Thunder by 22 runs.
Chasing Brisbane's 8-160, the Thunder managed 9-138 with Jess Jonassen snaring four wickets.
Thunder openers Athapaththu (34 from 28 balls) and Phoebe Litchfield (23 from 21) gave the Sydney-siders a brisk start.
But the Thunder then lost six wickets in an eight-over span to lose momentum as Jonassen turned the screws.
Earlier, Brisbane's Beth Heath made 29 from 25 balls to top score during an even batting effort, while their innings finished with a flourish as Georgia Voll smacked a six in her rapid-fire 18 not out from only eight balls.
Leading run scorers
Brisbane Heat: Grace Harris (387 at 29.76, SR 168.99), Mignon du Preez (333 at 25.61, SR 129.06)
Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu (511 runs at 42.58, SR 129.69), Tahlia Wilson (311 at 31.10, SR 119.61)
Leading wicket takers
Brisbane Heat: Jess Jonassen (20 at 19.6, eco 8.11), Nicola Hancock (17 wickets at 22.94, eco 7.77)
Sydney Thunder: Hannah Darlington (19 wickets at 17, eco 8.07), Sammy-Jo Johnson (10 wickets at 25.7, eco 8.03)
Strengths and weaknesses
Brisbane Heat
The Heat have an incredibly deep batting line-up; starting at the top with Grace Harris and Georgia Redmayne and carrying on from there with Amelia Kerr, Mignon du Preez, Bess Heath, Laura Harris, Charli Knott, Georgia Voll and Jess Jonassen. The top three has been stable since Kerr’s late arrival to the tournament, but the Heat have switched up the rest of their order regularly, so how they best manage the talent at their disposal, to get the most out of it, will be critical.
With the ball, Jonassen and Nicola Hancock have again been standouts, but they will be looking for a big performance from the likes of Kerr and Courtney Sippel to go deeper into the finals.
Sydney Thunder
The Thunder have been playing around with their batting order of late, moving Tahlia Wilson down from opening to the middle order, with Phoebe Litchfield instead opening alongside fellow left-hander Chamari Athapaththu. The move does not seem to have paid off however, and Wilson was back at the top for the Sydney Smash.
Hannah Darlington has been outstanding with the ball this season, taking 17 wickets and challenging batters through various stages in the game, however their next highest wicket takers are Sammy-Jo Johnson and Marizanne Kapp with 10 each. Lauren Smith has been miserly since her return from injury, with an economy rate of 5.27 from eight matches, but fellow spinner Sam Bates has just four wickets from 14 games.
WBBL|09 Finals
The Eliminator: Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder | WACA Ground | November 28, 7.40pm AEDT (4.40pm local)
The Challenger: Perth Scorchers v TBC | WACA Ground | November 29, 7.40pm AEDT (4.40pm local)
The Final: Adelaide Strikers v TBC | Adelaide Oval | December 2 at 7.10pm AEDT/6.40pm ACDT
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