InMobi

WBBL trophy the only thing on Devine's mind

The star allrounder is focused on claiming a first WBBL title for the Strikers when they meet the Heat on Sunday

Fourteen runs – and a certain piece of silverware is – all Adelaide Strikers allrounder Sophie Devine needs to cap off the greatest all-round season in the history of the Rebel WBBL.

Devine is closing in on Ellyse Perry’s record of 777 for most runs in a single season, after her match-winning 65no led the Strikers to victory over the Perth Scorchers on Saturday and sealed their place in their first WBBL final.


WBBL Final: Allan Border Field

Brisbane Heat v Adelaide Strikers, Sunday 1.40pm (2.40pm AEDT)

Tune in to the WBBL final on 7mate, Fox Cricket, Kayo, the CA Live app or listen on ABC radio


The New Zealand star now has 764 runs at 84.88 from 15 innings, including nine half-centuries, to sit alongside the 18 wickets she’s taken at 19.27.

To put this achievement in perspective, prior to this season the second-highest number of runs in a single campaign was the 560 scored by Meg Lanning in WBBL|01.

And while Perry scored a staggering 777 runs in 16 innings last season before her team went down to the Heat in the final, she did not perform the same sort of damage with the ball, taking 10 wickets at 27.

All Devine needs to eclipse Perry is more 14 runs in Sunday’s final against reigning champions Brisbane Heat, but in typical fashion, her main concern is getting her hands on the WBBL trophy.

"I got dropped a couple of times there but at the moment, luck seems to be going my way," Devine said. 

"Tomorrow I could get a duck and someone else could be standing up and getting runs, but at the end of the day as long as the Strikers are winning, then that’s all that matters."

Strikers send Scorchers packing with dominant victory

Defeated Scorchers skipper Meg Lanning knows she hasn’t seen the last of Devine for the 2019-20 summer.

First, her Victorian team will meet a Western Australian outfit that’s likely to feature Devine – who has a WA contract this summer – in two 50-over Women’s National Cricket League matches on January 7 and 9.

Then on March 2, Australia and New Zealand will face off in a T20 World Cup group game at Melbourne’s Junction Oval.

"I’m not really sure what to say to be honest, it’s been an amazing effort from her to be so consistent in this format is really difficult to do, opening the batting against the best bowlers in the world," Lanning said of Devine.

"We’ll be thinking about (how to stop her) a lot. 

"International players see a lot of us playing but we see a lot of them as well."

Sophie’s Devine WBBL|05

Oct 19: 72* & 1-16 v Renegades

Oct 20: 48 & 2-32 v Renegades

Oct 26: 6 & 1-27 v Hurricanes

Oct 27: 0 & 1-24 v Scorchers

Nov 2: 1 & 2-21 v Heat

Nov 3: 65 & 0-20 v Heat

Nov 9: 58 & 1-28 v Scorchers

Nov 10: 85* & 2-19 v Stars

Nov 16: 77* & 3-13 v Stars

Nov 20: 62* & 1-21 v Thunder

Nov 23: 31 & 1-19 v Hurricanes

Nov 24: 88 & 0-31 v Thunder

Nov 30: 46* & 0-18 v Sixers

Dec 1: 60 & 1-35 v Sixers

Dec 7: 65* & 2-23 v Scorchers