Beth Mooney's flawless 94 not out has led Perth to victory in their must-win game against Brisbane, ensuring the Scorchers will play finals again in the WBBL
Match Report:
ScorecardMooney magic seals Scorchers' finals berth, Heat go winless
Beth Mooney has led Perth back into the WBBL finals, executing the perfect chase against Brisbane and ending Melbourne Renegades' title defence in the process.
Needing 165 for victory in a must-win game at the WACA on Saturday, Mooney hit an unbeaten 94 from 61 to help Perth reach the target with seven wickets and four balls to spare.
The victory ensured the Scorchers would have a home final, knocked the Renegades out of the top four and handed the Heat the first winless season in WBBL history.
Perth and the Melbourne Stars are also locked into finals spots, with the winner of the Sydney Sixers and Adelaide at North Sydney Oval on Sunday morning to join them.
The WBBL's finals system has third and fourth face off in eliminator on Tuesday, before the winner of that plays against second on Thursday for a spot in the final.
The Stars could have wrapped up second spot on Saturday morning had they beaten the Sydney Thunder at Junction Oval, only for them to be well beaten.
Instead, Scorchers are now in second, and will stay there if the Strikers beat the Sixers on Sunday.
Australia's veteran opener regularly picked balls up off her pads and hit them over the legside to the rope, hitting 12 boundaries in a near-flawless knock.
The Scorchers' chase threatened to wobble late when Maddy Darke (24) and Sophie Devine (13) fell, but Mooney held her nerve and Freya Kemp's late hitting saw Perth home.
The leading run-scorer in WBBL history, Mooney now has scores of 105, 75 and 94no for the season and will enter the finals as one of the league's most dangerous players.
Earlier, the Stars were left to rue a miserable morning at Junction Oval when they managed just 6-66 when the match with the Thunder was shortened to 10 overs a side.
Litchfield and fellow Australia young gun Georgia Voll made light work of the DLS-revised target of 76, securing the winning runs with 17 balls to spare.
The win meant the Thunder finished the season in seventh, out of the finals for the first time since 2022.
Weber WBBL|11 Standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
HUR
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.662 | 0 | 15 |
|
2
SCO
|
10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.132 | 0 | 12 |
|
3
STA
|
10 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0.629 | 0 | 11 |
|
4
SIX
|
9 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -0.365 | 0 | 11 |
|
5
REN
|
10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.121 | 0 | 10 |
|
6
STR
|
9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.097 | 0 | 9 |
|
7
THU
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | -0.124 | 0 | 9 |
|
8
HEA
|
10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | -0.869 | 0 | 1 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points