'Gades v Sixers: a tale of contrasting pasts

The short histories of the Sydney Sixers and the Melbourne Renegades in the Rebel WBBL couldn’t be a starker contrast, but the latter are owning their underdog status as they look to cause a major upset in Saturday’s semi-final.

The Sixers were runners-up in WBBL|01 before taking out back-to-back titles and are the red-hot favourites to make it a three-peat after finishing the regular season on top of the table.

The Renegades, meanwhile, are competing in the WBBL finals for the first time, having finished bottom in the competition’s inaugural season, seventh in WBBL|02 and sixth last summer.

Becoming the first Melbourne club to reach WBBL finals is an achievement Renegades captain Amy Satterthwaite is proud of, after the team stuck with their young talent through the difficult early seasons.

They’re now reaping the rewards, after bowling trio Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham and Tayla Vlaeminck all made their Australian debuts last year.

“They’ve come a long way,” Satterthwaite, who played for the Hurricanes for two seasons before moving to the Renegades for WBBL|03, said of her team.

“To think of the way the team has grown and how some of the players who’ve been around the group have gone from strength to strength, to see them now in Australian colours and the way they’ve progressed is really exciting.

“Them being involved with those (national) set-ups has helped them gain belief in their own ability and you’re starting to see that in this competition too, it’s awesome to see the way they’ve grown.”

The Sixers have come out on top both times the teams met this season, but Satterthwaite says her players have put that behind them heading into the semi-final at Drummoyne Oval.

“Just being in our first semi-final, we’ve got nothing to lose. It’s back to zero now and we’ll just express ourselves and just play some good cricket like we have throughout the season," she said.

“The girls are really excited, this is new territory for a lot of them but they’re pumped to get out there.”

For Sixers captain Ellyse Perry, this season has been about pushing the boundaries as a team, knowing the rest of the competition is chasing them.

“You want to look at what’s possible next,” Perry said. “There’s a really cool saying that if you’re not trying to change the game, you’re playing someone else’s game and I believe that.

“The sky is the limit for every team, this competition every year has gotten bigger and better and if you’re being chased you’ve got to find ways to evolve what you’re doing.

“That’s been a great challenge for us, and it’s something I’m incredibly proud of this group for embracing.

“In a lot of games we’ve got that right and in other games we’ve learnt some tough lessons, but that’s been cool too.”

It’s a mantra Perry herself has embodied this season as she’s taken her T20 batting game to new heights.

Heading into Saturday's semi-final double header, Perry has smashed 690 runs including two centuries and five half-centuries for an average of 86.25.

By comparison, Adelaide Strikers star Sophie Devine is next on the runs chart with 556 while Scorchers captain Meg Lanning has the second highest average with 48.62.

Perry has easily eclipsed the previous record for most runs in a single WBBL season – the 560 scored by Lanning in WBBL|01.

And stopping her looms as the key for the Renegades.

"You can't go past it and you have to do some planning," Satterthwaite said.

"No one can miss the form that she's been in - it's been pretty phenomenal and I think it'll be pretty hard to beat in the years to come."

The first semi-final between the Thunder and the Heat gets underway at 10.40am on Saturday before the Sixers and Renegades meet at 1.50pm.