Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
AAP
AAP
Sport
Scott Bailey and Oliver Caffrey

Scorchers book final spot with Renegades defence over

Beth Mooney belted an unbeaten 94 from 61 balls as Perth Scorchers beat Brisbane Heat. (Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS)

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.

With one game to play in the season, Hobart are guaranteed top spot and hosting rights for next Saturday night's final at Ninja Stadium.

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 Perth are now in second, and will stay there if the Strikers beat the Sixers on Sunday.

Facing a tricky chase after Georgia Redmayne's 57 helped the Heat to 7-164, Mooney took control of the game at the WACA.

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.

Litchfield hit 37 from 23 balls before being dismissed late in the chase, while Voll was untroubled with an unbeaten 33 off 18 to go with her 2-13 with the ball.

The win meant the Thunder finished the season in seventh, out of the finals for the first time since 2022.

"I had a bit of a stinker of a competition so it's nice to be able to finish off with a win with the girls, but to contribute as well right at the end was nice," Voll told Fox Cricket.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.