Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Graham, and Kathryn Bryce all tasted glory at the Women’s Big Bash League as Hobart Hurricanes were crowned champions.
In a home final at Ninja Stadium, the Hurricanes comfortably chased down Perth Scorchers’ 137-5 with eight wickets to spare to claim their maiden title.
Graham helped restrict the visitors with 2/26, taking her place as the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the competition, with a total of 16.
Sciver-Brunt added 35 from 27 balls, playing the foil to opener Lizelle Lee, who belted 77 from just 44 to underpin Hobart’s chase, before Nicola Carey struck the winning boundary.
The Tasmanian outfit had ensured safe passage directly to the showpiece by finishing atop the eight-team league with seven wins from their ten games.
The Scorchers, following their third-place finish, defeated Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers in the playoffs to also make the final, but they were unable to halt the rampant Hurricanes.
Linsey Smith also collected two wickets in the final, finishing second to Graham as Hobart’s leading bowler, while Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s 432 runs marked her out as the side’s best batter.
In turn, Sciver-Brunt’s own significant tally of 205 put her third in the team’s run-scoring charts, behind only Wyatt-Hodge and Lee.
Early in the tournament, the Hurricanes had started as they meant to go on, winning five successive matches to establish themselves as the early frontrunners.
A wobble, during which they were downed by the Sixers and the Stars in successive games, threatened to derail them midway through the group stage.
However, their winning ways came rushing back with a thumping seven-wicket win over the Scorchers as they pulled off the highest successful chase in WBBL history.
Sciver-Brunt was at her all-round best in that game, taking 1/18 with the ball before hammering 81 off 48 in reply to tee up the Hurricanes overhauling a target of 187.
With confidence sky-high, another crushing win - over the Stars by 81 runs - followed, before an abandonment against Adelaide Strikers put them on the precipice of a home final.
The no-result was unusual in itself, caused by the heavy roller squashing a stray ball into the pitch during the innings break and leaving a deep imprint in the surface.
The unusual matters were not enough to derail the Hurricanes, however, and the conclusion to the group stage delivered the results they needed to affirm their status as finalists.
There, and with Graham, Sciver-Brunt, and Bryce all part of their squad, they in turn rubber-stamped their status as the year’s most dominant team to seal a first title in 11 years.
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