Here's where things stand with two weekends left in the WBBL regular season
It's crunch time in the WBBL
Whirlwind – that’s one way to describe it. In the space of less than two months Australia will have seen 59 matches played out in the inaugural Rebel Women’s Big Bash League.
It’s the most domestic cricket ever seen in the women’s game over such a window, which on occasion has had up to five matches played out in a day.
Since the beginning of the tournament in early December, we’ve had crowds of nearly 13,000 turn up to watch, television audiences reach 439,000 and matches that weren't previously scheduled to be televised now being aired on prime time spots. Women's cricket, hey.
On-field things have been just as manic. Perhaps this is just indicative of the unpredictable nature of Twenty20, but it makes for exciting viewing leading into the business end of the tournament.
The Perth Scorchers, filled to the brim with experienced internationals, have lost more games than they've won. The Hobart Hurricanes, whose state team failed to win a single match in this season's 50-over competition, lie second in the table. Adelaide Strikers on the other hand, table-toppers in the WNCL, have it all to do to make finals.
There are now just ten days and 18 games left of the group stages before finals are upon us. Some teams have just one remaining fixture while others have seven, which makes for interesting reading of the tournament ladder. To help you navigate the next ten days, here’s our take on how things may (or may not) play out.
Adelaide Strikers
So far it’s been a season of two halves for the women in blue. Highly tipped following the victorious WNCL campaign by the Breezair South Australian Scorpions, the Strikers kicked off their WBBL tournament with four back-to-back losses. Those losses, however, were against the tournament’s current top three, and the Strikers have since turned things around with three consecutive wins since.
The Strikers, alongside both the Melbourne Renegades and Sydney Sixers, have the most matches left still to play – seven – four of which are against the two bottom of the table, which gives their finals hopes a boost. Expect a tight tussle with the Melbourne Stars this weekend and the Strikers’ penultimate match, against the Brisbane Heat on Saturday 16th January, could well be a decider for both teams.
Brisbane Heat
Lying third in the table, the Heat have only one match left, so their path to finals is all but out of their hands. If Sydney Thunder and the Hobart Hurricanes continue in the same vein, the last two finals spots will likely be a last minute scrap between the Heat, Stars and Strikers. On pitch therefore, the Heat’s task is simple - win.
Hobart Hurricanes
The Hurricanes burst onto the scene with five wins from their first five games. A surprise to start with, the Hurricanes, along with current table-toppers the Sydney Thunder, are one of two teams that have really got the most out of a large number of players, and not just relied on one superstar.
The Tasmanian side have been usurped at the top by a dominant Sydney Thunder side and have now lost three on the trot, but with just three matches left, including two against bottom-of-the-table Sydney Sixers, are odds on to retain their second-place and make finals.
Melbourne Renegades
Despite a high-profile and entertaining win over local rivals the Melbourne Stars in last weekend’s televised derby, the Renegades are the weaker of the two and truth-be-told unlikely to make it to finals.
The diminutive seamer Shabnim Ismail, architect of the win over the Stars alongside Molly Strano, has flown back to South Africa while New Zealand international Rachel Priest has returned to the fold to strengthen the Renegades’ batting line-up, whose depth was always an issue.
With just two wins on the board and while it’s still mathematically possible, the Renegades are going to need to win at the very least four of their remaining seven matches. On current form this seems unlikely. Always a chance of an upset though, the tournament has already had so many.
Melbourne Stars
Never has a team been more hot and cold. Utterly dominant over the Brisbane Heat in the WBBL’s two opening fixtures, the Stars lost two from two against the Perth Scorchers over Christmas and then got publicly humiliated by the Renegades last weekend before bouncing back the following day.
Skipper Meg Lanning tops the runs ladder, but their next best comes in at 14th. If they want to make it to finals, they need to find the consistency they’ve been lacking – batting especially.
The Stars have arguably the toughest run home with the Strikers, Thunder and Hurricanes all on their fixtures list, so will need to be on their a-game throughout. No better time to do it however, than the business end of the tournament. Beat the Strikers this weekend and the Stars are very much in it.
Perth Scorchers
On paper stronger than anyone, even before the tournament had started questions were being raised as to whether such a star-studded line-up would be able to deliver the goods on the pitch. As with their WNCL campaign, it’s been a rough ride for the women from the West.
The Scorchers have lost more than they’ve won and with just two games left will need to win both to have a chance of getting through. If that does happen, net run rate could prove crucial, so expect all guns blazing against the Melbourne Renegades in the final weekend.
Sydney Sixers
It’s been a pretty disastrous campaign, all things being equal. The Sixers lost their first six matches before upping their game for the televised match against the Scorchers in the imposing surrounds of the SCG.
Captain Ellyse Perry led from the front in that victory and her individual performances have been increasing with each match, after an uncharacteristically slow start. Still, while miracles do happen, this one’s almost impossible. Instead the Sixers may have to settle with climbing off the bottom of the ladder as their focus over the next two weeks.
Sydney Thunder
The consummate all-round team. The Thunder’s superstar batter West Indian Stafanie Taylor, who dominated early in the tournament, failed in her last few outings at the top of the innings, but the Thunder still won all three. When their big guns fail, the Thunder don’t have to look too far for someone else to step into the breach.
The Sydney outfit’s last three matches were also played without Southern Stars’ spinner Erin Osborne, who returns to the fold for the Thunder’s remaining four matches. Not that there is any problem with the rest of the Thunder’s bowlers however, with both Lauren Cheatle and Rene Farrell amongst the tournament’s top five wicket-takers.
Capably lead by “the finisher” and experienced head Alex Blackwell, if there was one team you’d bet your house would make finals, the Thunder are it.
Predictions
Pre-tournament we tipped the Adelaide Strikers as the ones to watch so we’re backing them to squeeze into a finals spot, narrowly pipping the Heat. Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes will take spots one and two and Melbourne Stars to finish strongly in third. Watch this space.
This weekend's WBBL action
Friday, January 8: Stars v Strikers, Junction Oval (10am AEDT)
Renegades v Sixers, Junction Oval (2.30pm)
Saturday, January 9: Sixers v Strikers, Junction Oval (10am)
Strikers v Sixers, Junction Oval (2.30pm)
Renegades v Thunder, Etihad Stadium (2.40pm) - LIVE Broadcast on ONE HD and streaming on cricket.com.au
Sunday, January 10: Stars v Strikers, Junction Oval (10am)
Sixers v Renegades, Junction Oval (2.30pm)
FREE OFFER: Get an Optus Live Pass to stream every ball of BBL matches (and Test matches) for FREE until midnight January 9. Click here or on the image below.