Ismail lives out Thunder dream after sleepless night

On the night before the WBBL Final, Sydney Thunder Shabnim Ismail lay in bed trying to answer one of the hardest questions in world cricket.

Just how do you get Meg Lanning out?

Armed with a plan, Ismail unleashed hell on the Melbourne Stars captain from ball one of the final the next day at North Sydney Oval.

With searing pace, Ismail almost had her mark second ball, only for Tammy Beaumont to put down a regulation chance at backward point.

Lanning would not be as lucky in the seventh over, when she nudged at a wider Ismail delivery and edged a catch to wicketkeeper Tahlia Wilson.

The Stars’ biggest wicket was gone for 13, one of three wickets to fall inside the first 6.1 overs, and Ismail’s 2-12 set the tone for a crushing seven-wicket win.

"We spoke (after) the semi-finals that we wanted to take wickets in the Powerplay," Ismail said.

"Last night I was just laying in bed thinking, ‘How am I gonna get Meg Lanning out?’

"She’s a key wicket for the Stars.

"And I thought I’d just come out today and bowl heat and I changed a few things. I bowled fuller and faster.

"You don’t want to be dropping big players like that, they can haunt you … but after that I said, 'let me stick to my guns and bowl what I think is key in the game'."

While deceptively diminutive in height, Ismail is one of the fastest bowlers in the women’s game, if not the fastest, and formed a potent partnership with Thunder recruit Sammy-Jo Johnson in the Powerplay throughout WBBL|06.

Johnson picked up her third consecutive WBBL winners’ medal on Saturday night, after being part of Brisbane Heat’s back-to-back title wins.

"I actually had a text from (former Heat teammate) Delissa Kimmince before the game and she said, ‘Good luck mate, hopefully you’re the lucky charm’," Johnson said after the final.

"So maybe I am. But I’m just so stoked for this group.

"Shabs is a character in her own right and we spoke about it for the last few games that if we could work in partnerships for that Powerplay and put the top batters under pressure, hopefully we would come out with the results and we certainly did tonight."

The Thunder claimed their second title after missing the play-offs last season thanks to an injection of experience through the recruitment of Johnson and England pair Heather Knight and Beaumont, which complemented their group of up-and-coming talent including teenagers Hannah Darlington and Phoebe Litchfield.

"When I first came in and we got together in our first few practice matches, I said that it felt like Brisbane Heat (did) early doors, in WBBL|04," Johnson said.

"I said, ‘we’ve got the talent, we’ve got the experience and we’ve got that x-factor in a few young players.’"

It was that youthful enthusiasm that Johnson believes kept the Thunder buoyed throughout a challenging tournament in a hub.

Pranks, bonding and a concerted effort to make their two floors of the hotel their own played an enormous role in their success.

"They’ve got so much energy, I don’t know how they keep doing it," Johnson laughed.

"I’m having naps before night games and they’re in the hallway shooting nerf guns.

"I don’t know where their energy comes from, but it lifts the senior players.

"I said the team that bonded the best in the hub would come out on top and we certainly did that.

"(I’m) a bit of a prankster, we stole Heather Knight’s mattress early on in the hub, we had a lot of fun … we spent good quality time with each other and I think that contributed to the win tonight."

Stars XI: Meg Lanning (c), Elyse Villani, Mignon du Preez, Natalie Sciver, Annabel Sutherland, Katherine Brunt, Erin Osborne, Alana King, Tess Flintoff, Nicole Faltum (wk), Sophie Day

Thunder XI: Tammy Beaumont, Rachel Trenaman, Heather Knight, Rachael Haynes (c), Phoebe Litchfield, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Tahlia Wilson (wk), Hannah Darlington, Lauren Smith, Shabnim Ismail, Sam Bates