Perth Scorchers 192 for 3 (Devine 106, Mooney 50, Hancock 1-26) won Brisbane heat 153 (Redmayne 53, Cleary 3-27, Devine 2-33) by 39 runs
After lamenting such a sloppy fielding effort, the Heat still remained confident after almost reaching 205 against Sydney Thunder in their last match.
Opener Grace Harris, coming off a record 136 not out, looked like the key wicket. She hit a boundary against fast teenager Chloe Ainsworth in her fourth delivery before falling off the next ball after being hit on the foot by a yorker that appeared to be misfiring into the stumps.
Devine in the next over continued her starring role to remove Amelia Kerr with a return catch and then almost dismissed Mignon du Preez who was bowled by wicketkeeper Mooney in a one-handed diving effort.
The result leaves the teams locked at 5-3 records as the Scorchers bounced back impressively after a last-ball home loss to Adelaide Strikers.
Nat Sciver-Brunt’s season debut against Strikers had meant a shake-up for Scorchers’ top-order batting with Devine returning to her usual role as opener alongside Mooney, who had previously batted at four.
Devine and Mooney again showed their love of batting together but initially had to counter the seam movement of the quick Nicola Hancock in a cautious start.
Hancock returned to a short pitch but the plan backfired with Devine executing the shot superbly to hit a couple of boundaries in the third over.
He looked for an aggressive approach against the spinners and used his feet with confidence. Devine unleashed brutal power in contrast to a rough-edged Mooney, who wisely concentrated on turning the punch around.
Devine decided to put her foot down after the drinks break and lived dangerously but was bowled by Georgia Voll off left-arm long bowler Jess Jonassen.
Jonassen’s frustrations grew when Devine smashed the next delivery for a boundary and soon after hit another through mid-on to score his half-century in style.
Having scored the most power-up runs in the competition, Devine was unstoppable after she was taken in the 14th over when Mooney also recorded her half-century with a boundary.
But Mooney was dismissed on the next ball after a Hancock delivery hit his pads and fell on the stumps. Sciver-Brunt was promoted to three but was completely overshadowed by a rampaging Devine who hit Jonassen for a long-on six to complete her century.
Devine was run out on the last ball of the innings, but his outstanding performance was not yet over as he led Scorchers to a crucial victory.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth.
