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Sydney Thunder went the long way in search of the WBBL title

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Sydney Thunder went the long way in search of the WBBL title


Sydney Sixers 126 for 1 (Perry 82*) beat Sydney Thunder 123 (Knight 38, Litchfield 34, Gardner 4-26) by nine wickets

Sydney Thunder had to undertake a hurried cross-country journey in their bid to reach the WBBL final after losing to local rivals Sixers at the SCG.

Victory would have assured the Thunder of a Challenger final at home on Wednesday, but instead they will have to take the long road to the final, in every sense, after Ellyse Perry’s unbeaten 82 secured a comfortable victory nine lands.

Thunder will now face Brisbane Heat in the Playoff on Tuesday at the WACA before the winner faces Perth Scorchers a day later in a bid to play Adelaide Strikers in next Saturday’s final.

Such is the condensed nature of the schedule, Thunder players boarded a bus to the airport immediately after the Sixers game concluded to catch a five-hour flight to Perth and ensure they had a day to prepare in the city on Monday.

The Thunder’s regular season has come to an end after they were well positioned to challenge for first place a couple of weeks ago. Instead, five losses in their last six games have allowed them to cling to fourth place, meaning they (and the Heat) will have to win three games to take the title.

“It’s frustrating, there was that real carrot of staying in Sydney and having a semi-final at home,” Thunder captain Heather Knight said. “But I just told the girls now, if you had said at the beginning of the year that we were going to reach the final after barely winning [five] games in two years we would have achieved it.

“Obviously we’re going to have to do things the hard way now with a flight there and win three games to try to win it. We have to leave what happened at the end of the group stage and move on.”

Against the Sixers, in front of a crowd of 7,118 to complete three days of matches at major stadiums, a batting collapse proved costly as the Thunder lost their last eight wickets for 39, including their last five in the space of 11 balls.

Although the pace had not been high, Chamari Athapaththu and Phoebe Litchfield had laid the foundation only for the innings to crumble after falling. Litchfield was going well when she managed a drive up the middle that was well held by Suzie Bates.

From there, wickets fell against the Sixers’ spin duo of Ashleigh Gardner and Linsey Smith, while three run-outs added to their woes. Knight tried to keep the innings together with a run-a-ball 38.

Thunder thought they had broken through early when Sam Bates had Suzie Bates lbw, but DRS showed there had been a thin bottom edge on the sweep.

From there, an opening stand of 59, dominated by Perry, laid the foundation for the chase before Bates fell to a brilliant Tahlia Wilson hit down the leg side. But Perry dropped to 44 balls fifty and finished the game in an avalanche of boundaries, leaving Thunder to collect their already packed bags and head straight to the airport.

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