Carefree Mack rolls into finals on a wave of confidence

Katie Mack has transformed herself from support act to lead actor, and now the Adelaide Strikers opener wants to script what would be a remarkable finale to take out the Weber WBBL title.

Mack is in career-best form, sitting fourth on the WBBL|07 runs table with 426 at a strike rate of 118, including four half-centuries.

The right-hander headed into WBBL|07 fresh off a stint with Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred, where she played alongside Sydney Sixers allrounder Erin Burns and under Sixers' coach Ben Sawyer.

It meant she came into the season match-fit, and she cemented her role alongside new opening partner, South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk, through the early stages of the tournament.

But Mack has been firmly outshining her international counterpart across the past fortnight, scoring 67no, 1, 54no, 84no, 24 and 89no to end the regular season.

"I've worked on a few things technically, just really small things … but other than that, I learned last year that I bat so much better when I'm confident and play a bit more carefree," Mack told cricket.com.au on Tuesday.

"It's a hard mindset to get into when you feel like you need to score runs or you haven’t scored runs, but I learned that last year that if I do that, I bat my best.

"So it’s just trying to get in that mindset each game, which I think has worked well this year.

"I think the best thing for me this year is I feel like I've gone past playing that supporting role and I've sort of taken on more of a strike hitter and boundary hitter (role) so that’s been really nice."

Opening the batting alongside van Niekerk, and knowing she has the likes of Laura Wolvaardt, Tahlia McGrath, Bridget Patterson and Maddie Penna coming in behind her has also given Mack the licence to play freely.

She came into this season with a total of 1153 runs to her name across the previous six seasons spent first at the Melbourne Stars then at the Strikers.

That career tally has quickly surged past 1500, in what has been the continuation of a shift in form that started last Big Bash season, when Mack struck two half-centuries in a campaign where the Strikers narrowly missed finals.

She had hit just one fifty across the five preceding seasons.

Mack took that confidence into the 50-over domestic season with 418 runs at an average of 59.71, including a century and three fifties, with the ACT Meteors to finish third on the league runs table behind Elyse Villani and Georgia Redmayne. 

Looking back, it is that first half-century of WBBL|06, when she smacked a 37-ball 50 against the Strikers’ opponent in Wednesday’s Eliminator, the Brisbane Heat, that sparked her shift in mindset.

"I had an opportunity to open when Suzie Bates was injured, then she was coming back into the team so I thought I had one more game to sort of arrive, one more game left, and I wasn’t batting that well,” Mack explained.

"I thought, well, I'm just gonna go out and hit the ball and play with some confidence and see what I've got in me, to prove that I can do it … and then I came out and actually got to fifty.

"I think that was another realisation for me, that that's the way I probably should bat every time."

Mack is eagerly anticipating Wednesday's Eliminator final at Adelaide Oval – her favourite ground – and is optimistic the Strikers can pull off the difficult task of winning twice in two days to advance to Saturday's final against the Scorchers in Perth.

"I think if we do manage it, it'll be pretty spectacular," she said.

"We did have quite a heavy back end of our competition too, so we've just been on the go last couple of weeks.

"I think we do have a bit of momentum and confidence which I think may help us too."

WBBL Finals

The Eliminator: Adelaide Strikers v Brisbane Heat | Adelaide Oval | November 24, 6.40pm local (7.10pm AEDT)

The Challenger: Melbourne Renegades v TBC | Adelaide Oval | November 25, 6.40pm local (7.10pm AEDT)

The Final: Perth Scorchers v TBC | Optus Stadium | November 27 at 4.10pm local (7.10pm AEDT)

Grab your tickets or tune in on the Seven Network, Fox Cricket, Kayo, the CA Live app or listen on ABC radio