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So, the action now moves on to the BBL! Yes friends, the Big Bash League will be back from next Thursday and it will be a show to remember, we promise! Make sure to catch the coverage here on Sportskeeda. We will be more than delighted to bring you everything from such a wonderful T20 tournament of repute. For now, this is the pair of Mohul and Bidipto taking your leave. Thank you so much!
A massive shout out to everyone in making WBBL season 9 as good as it was! The tournament is only getting better and better in terms of its quality and the cricket that was on show was was simply outstanding! Adelaide Strikers Women and Brisbane Heat Women were worthy finalists. They put together a final of epic proportions! But in the end, it was the superiority of the home team in front of their adoring home crowd at the Adelaide Oval, that triumphed over the charge of the Heat Women. A proper team effort right through the tournament and champion-like play in all three departments led to this success, second time running! Congratulations to Tahlia McGrath and her team for this deserving victory!
Tahlia McGrath, Adelaide Strikers Women captain: That was pretty bloody special! We called it last year that we are not done, we want to win it again and will go for it! This is a proper team, there is no ego and there is a lot of respect for each other's performances. Brisbane Heat Women are a strong side, they pushed us big time and we cannot thank them enough for putting up such a strong show. I would like to thank all concerned to make this franchise and of course, this tournament, such a success. Thank you to the crowd for supporting us like this! Means a lot to us. Last but not the least, the support staff who have done so much behind the scenes to keep us as fit and as fine as we have been!
Jess Jonassen, captain of Brisbane Heat Women: A lot of credit to the Adelaide crowd for coming out tonight. Congratulations to Tahlia and the girls for winning back-to-back titles- it is not an easy thing. They topped the table and earned the right to host the final- that is no mean feat. To my girls, they did a great job but we will be back bigger and stronger next year. Without the support we got off the field, we would not be able to do what we do. We know what we have been through this season. The sponsors need to be thanked too. I am extremely proud of the girls.
Amanda Wellington, Player of the Match: What a game! This was the pinnacle of the WBBL, I think. The Heat showed why they are such a tough team to beat. A huge shoutout to the crowd- they were magnificent. The last wicket was when they just erupted, and we could hear them all the way!
Jemma Barsby: It feels great. I am so, so happy. You just saw how much it means to us. We went around hugging each other at least twice.
Nicole Bolton, assistant coach of Adelaide Strikers Women: I didn't think I could get it done as a coach. It feels great. I am extremely, extremely happy. The girls were great today.
Anesu Mushangwe: I think this is going to take a bit of time to process. My heart is still beating quickly- it was that intense a game. The group is excellent here. My teammates kept pumping me. Dropped catches are a part of the game, nobody wants to do it but it just happens. As I said, it is quite difficult for me to process. This is a moment I have been praying and hoping for. I never saw myself to be a part of the team on the field winning like this.
Adelaide Strikers Women win by 3 runs and win the Final of WBBL Season 9!
WHAT A MATCH! It did not look as though 125 was enough but there was a case for spin doing a bit more than normal with the pitch making the ball hold in the surface. And boy oh boy, the Adelaide Strikers Women turned on the style and got the job done against the best batting line-up of the season!
The start that both Grace Harris and Goergia Redmayne gave was good enough to make life a lot easier for the Heat Women. But, the introduction of spin through Jemma Barsby created the first mistake as the ball held up in the surface and Grace Harris found deep mid-wicket perfectly!
Since then, the Heat Women never really got themselves going and lost three more wickets in rather quick succession to tilt the balance in favour of the hosts. Tahlia McGrath's back-to-back strikes made Adelaide Oval erupt!
But then, the partnership of Amelia Kerr and Charli Knott threatened to take the game well away from the home team. To make matters worse, they were handed a couple of lives each!
But things turned once again with Megan Schutt coming back to pick up the prized wickets of Knott and opposition skipper Jess Jonassen. However, Amelia Kerr was not going to die wondering.
She got in on the act on her own and tried to take her team home single-handedly. The problem was that in the final over against Amanda Wellington, who bowled incredibly herself, Kerr did not get to face more than one delivery.
MIkayla Hinkley came out to bat in a tough situation and cracked a maximum first ball with the Heat Women requiring 5 runs to win off the last two balls!
And then, Hinkley found long-off! She tried to hit it over her but Barsby was good enough to know where the rope was. Under pressure, it was an outstanding catch!
It was left to Nicola Hancock in the end to strike a big one to seal it for her team but it unfortunately was not to be! So, that meant a successful title defense for the Tahlia McGrath-led Adelaide Strikers Women!
Tahlia McGrath: This is a team where everyone knows their role. We all know what to do. The team comes first in this group, and I am extremely pleased with this result. The crowd helped us go through the challenges too.
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Adelaide Oval
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