Nothing fake about Birkett's heroic catch

It was a case of ‘faking it until you make it’ for Haidee Birkett at Drummoyne Oval on Saturday, but there was nothing false about her stunning catch to send the Brisbane Heat into the Rebel WBBL final.

The Thunder needed five from the final ball to win the WBBL|04 semi-final at Drummoyne Oval, or four to take the match to a Super Over.

Thunder allrounder Nicola Carey middled the shot and it looked bound to fly over the rope – bowler Jess Jonassen was already on her haunches with head in hand – before a running Birkett intercepted the ball, hanging on to a brilliant catch.

“The batter shaped up to hit it to me, so you see that and start moving,” a euphoric Birkett explained after play.

“She got every piece and it was six runs so I thought, I actually thought it was going for six.

“And in cricket we do ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ so you run hard to make it look like you’re going to go for the ball.

“But then I realised I was actually there and stuck my hands up and it stuck.”

It was a difficult chance under immense pressure, but Birkett believes the speed at which the ball was struck by Carey worked in her favour.

“On the run your head is bobbling around everywhere and you’re not as still, but you also don’t have time to think about it,” she said.

“That’s when you get the demons out of your head and just catch it with your natural ability, when you’re standing under a high ball you have time to talk yourself out of it.”

The reaction of Jonassen was classic, as she raised her head to watch what she expected to be the winning runs, only to witness Birkett taking the Heat into their first WBBL final.

“As soon as she hit it I thought it was six, she got every piece of it,” Jonassen said.

“And then I thought I should see where it went and I looked up just in time to see Haidee in mid-air and plucked it and started running in.

“That’s something I’ll have to look back on and have a bit of a laugh at myself, but it was incredible.”

The Heat now have a chance to claim their first WBBL title, with their previous best result their semi-final exit in WBBL|02.

Birkett put the victory down to an improved performance with the ball and in the field, with the Heat successfully defending a total of 7-140 that many felt was under par at the change of innings.

“We took our time a bit more at the top of our mark and were more clear on where we wanted to bowl,” Birkett said.

“Sammy-Jo Johnson getting Rachael Haynes (for a duck) early, that set us up and calmed the nerves a bit and we were able to execute where we wanted to.”

For the Thunder, it was heartbreak after a consistent season that saw them win 10 of 14 home-and-away matches and finish second on the ladder, but captain Alex Blackwell still managed to find some positives following the defeat.

“I’m obviously really disappointed we haven’t progressed, but we played have some fantastic cricket this season and we played a good game today,” Blackwell said.

“I’m really proud of our girls, we’ve had a fantastic season, we’ve had lot of fun and we’ve seen great development especially in our bowling group, so on to bigger and better things next season.”