Flipping out: chase on trend in WBBL title race

Perth Scorchers captain Meg Lanning fully expects to find her team batting first in tomorrow’s Rebel WBBL semi-final against Adelaide Strikers, given her record at the bat flip this season – but there is no doubting chasing is in vogue.

The bat flip arrived in the WBBL for the first time this season, as the captains did away with the traditional coin toss and, amid some interesting techniques and comical reactions, one trend emerged.

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WBBL Finals: Allan Border Field

First semi-final: Strikers v Scorchers, Saturday 10.10am (11.10am AEDT)

Second semi-final: Heat v Renegades, Saturday 1.50pm (2.50pm AEDT)

Final: SF1 v SF2, Sunday 1.40pm (2.40pm AEDT)

Tune in to the WBBL finals on the Seven Network, Fox Cricket, Kayo, the CA Live app or listen on ABC radio

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During the 56-game regular season, winning captains chose to bat first on just 11 occasions – and five of those times, it was the Sydney Sixers making the call.

On the flip side, skippers elected to field first on 44 occasions (one game in Burnie was washed out before a bat flip took place).

The regular season results also favour teams batting second – but nowhere near the same degree - with 30 matches won by the chasing side.

Scorchers skipper and Australia captain Lanning has a famously poor record at coin tosses – she even brought in a specialist ‘tosser’ in Alyssa Healy for two recent T20Is against Sri Lanka – and it seems the move to a bat flip has done nothing for her fortunes, boasting the poorest win-loss record across the league for WBBL|05.

"Well we’ve been batting first a lot, because I keep losing the toss," Lanning laughed on Friday.

"I think teams are a lot more comfortable chasing these days, scoring 160 batting first used to be hard to chase down but it’s been chased a lot throughout this year,

"The batters are very comfortable and the wickets are very good and don’t change much throughout the game so it’ll be interesting to see if that trend continues."

Image Id: ABB660881AE04369B2B0331DF100FAB1 Image Caption: Ellyse Perry reacts to a bat flip at North Sydney Oval // Getty

Given Lanning’s fortunes in what should be a 50-50 contest, she will be consoled by her team’s record batting first.

Despite opting to chase on all five occasions that she was successful, Perth actually boast a marginally better record batting first this season.

Of the nine times they were sent in to bat, they won five, while their other four victories came chasing.

Batting second has been particularly fruitful for the Melbourne Renegades, who have claimed six of their seven wins batting second – including their record chase against semi-final opponents Brisbane Heat at AB Field late last month – only successfully defending a score in their final match of the home-and-away season.

Unsurprisingly, they've elected to field all eight times they won the flip.

"If you look at the last couple weeks in the Big Bash, a lot of teams have been bowling first knowing they have the confidence to chase," Renegades captain Jess Duffin said.

"It does come down to the bat flip and hopefully we win that tomorrow."

Teams are backing themselves to chase as more totals in excess of 150 are posted than ever before.

From 55 regular season matches this year, teams have compiled totals above 150 on 41 occasions, slightly ahead of the 39 posted for the entire WBBL|04 season.

The last two years have been a massive jump on the first three seasons, where 150-plus scores were amassed 37 times in total.

Flipping out: how the bat fell in WBBL|05

Heat captain Kirby Short:

Flips won: 6 | Lost: 8 | Batted: 2 | Bowled: 4

Games won: 10 | Batted first: 4 | Bowled first: 6

Strikers captain Suzie Bates:

Flips won: 7 | Lost: 7 | Batted: 2 | Bowled: 5

Games won: 10 | Batted first: 5 | Bowled first: 5

Scorchers captain Meg Lanning:

Flips won: 5 | Lost: 8 | Batted: 0 | Bowled: 5

Games won: 9 | Batted first: 5 | Bowled first: 4

Renegades captain Jess Duffin:*

Flips won: 8 | Lost: 6 | Batted: 0 | Bowled: 8

Games won: 7 | Batted first: 1 | Bowled first: 6

*missed one game due to illness, Molly Strano stood in as captain