Perth banking on big-game Mooney to deliver

Perth Scorchers captain Sophie Devine says she is prepared to carry Beth Mooney off the ground if her fellow opener can replicate her heroic displays from past WBBL finals in Saturday's decider against the Adelaide Strikers.

Last time Devine played in a WBBL final in 2019, she was representing the Strikers and Mooney was her nemesis, peeling off a match-winning 56 from 45 balls to seal back-to-back titles for the Brisbane Heat.

Mooney, who today signed a two-year extension to remain with the Perth Scorchers until WBBL|09, has a habit of stepping up on the biggest stages.

A season earlier she battled illness in sweltering conditions to score a remarkable 46-ball 65 in the final against the Sydney Sixers, pushing aside suggestions she should retire hurt to lead the Brisbane side to their first championship.

The left-hander, who famously struggles in the heat, may well have to call on that grit and determination again on Saturday with oppressive conditions including a top of 36 degrees forecast for Perth, and with the final to begin at 4.10pm local time (7.10pm AEDT).

"She's an absolute machine," Devine said.

"It probably doesn't look like it at times in the past. I think I was watching replays of her in the Heat colours – she was crawling pretty much in between overs.

"But she's an absolute champion. She's done this time and time again – not just in Australian colours, but for the Scorchers and for the Heat as well."

Mooney, who also scored 78 not out in front of 86,174 people in the 2020 T20 World Cup final at the MCG, has plundered a league-leading 528 runs at an average of 52.8 and a strike rate of 132 in WBBL|07, continuing what is a remarkable record of being the only player to have hit more than 400 runs in every WBBL season to date.

She suggested earlier this week she had "one game left in her" as the fatigue of a demanding Big Bash season, which immediately followed the multi-format series against India, started to take its toll.

"I've got no doubt about her preparation," Devine said of her star batter. "She's the ultimate professional, she knows what she needs to do.

"Fingers crossed she has a big one out there. If I have to carry her off, so be it, I'll take that."

Devine is not the only player hoping for redemption after the pain of a losing final.

There are her former Strikers teammates, for one – most of the current squad were part of that defeat in WBBL|05.

Then there is Scorchers allrounder Heather Graham, who has twice experienced the bitter taste of defeat, and hopes it will be third time lucky on Saturday.

Graham is also relieved the Sydney Sixers will not be part of the equation this time around.

She was one of three Scorchers squad members who were part of their back-to-back final defeats in WBBL|02 and |03 – both times at the hands of the Sixers – alongside Chloe Piparo and Piepa Cleary.

"We've been hungry every year since," Graham told cricket.com.au.

"It's going to be really exciting again to try and win the trophy on our home soil, we had a crack at that a few years back now and one of our nemeses in the Sixers kept getting over us.

"Now we don't have to play them hopefully we can bring a trophy home."

Meanwhile, spinner Alana King, who has thrived at her new home at the Scorchers since moving across from the Melbourne Stars in the offseason, has a second shot at a title after being part of the side that capitulated to the Sydney Thunder in last year's decider.

"I got a bit of a taste of finals last year … but hopefully I'm on the better end of it this year," King told cricket.com.au earlier this week.

"The guys are really excited as well as the coaching staff and hopefully we can put on a really good show for our home fans.

"We had a great chat just before we came back to Perth that this is the week you have just got to embrace it.

"There's no point hiding away from it. (Beth and Sophie) and Marizanne Kapp, they all have a lot of international games under their belt and hhave played around the world, so they know what it's like to play in a big final.

"Their message to us is just to have fun and embrace it. As Beth Mooney always likes to tell us, pressure is a privilege." 

WBBL|07 Finals

The Eliminator: Adelaide Strikers beat Brisbane Heat by eight wickets

The Challenger: Melbourne Renegades lost to Adelaide Strikers by nine wickets

The Final: Perth Scorchers v Adelaide Strikers | 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