Misplaced Pages

The 2020–21 Brisbane Heat Women's season was the sixth in the team's history. Coached by Ashley Noffke and captained by Jess Jonassen, the Heat entered WBBL|06 as the double defending champions, having won both WBBL|04 and WBBL|05 titles. Playing the entirety of the tournament in a bio-secure Sydney hub due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they finished the regular season with seven-straight wins to claim second position on the points table, qualifying for the knockout stage. In a "crazy" semi-final encounter with the Sydney Thunder, the Heat suffered an "epic meltdown" to lose by twelve runs and have their hopes of a three-peat dashed.

Squad

Each 2020–21 squad was made up of 15 active players. Teams could sign up to five 'marquee players', with a maximum of three of those from overseas. Marquees were classed as any overseas player, or a local player who holds a Cricket Australia national contract at the start of the WBBL|06 signing period.

Personnel changes made ahead of the season included:

• Beth Mooney departed the Heat, signing with the Perth Scorchers.
• Sammy-Jo Johnson also departed, signing with the Sydney Thunder.
• Georgia Redmayne joined the Heat, departing the Scorchers.
• Nicola Hancock also joined the Heat, departing the Melbourne Stars.
• South African marquee player Nadine de Klerk signed with the Heat, marking her first appearance in the league.
• Jess Jonassen was appointed as the team's new captain, replacing Kirby Short who retired from cricket at the end of WBBL|05.

The table below lists the Heat players and their key stats (including runs scored, batting strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches and stumpings) for the season.

No.	Name	Nat.	Birth date	Batting style	Bowling style	G	R	SR	W	E	C	S	Notes
Batters
5	Maddy Green		20 October 1992	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	12	129	88.96	–	–	4	–	Overseas marquee
14	Mikayla Hinkley		1 May 1998	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	3	1	50.00	–	–	0	–
4	Laura Kimmince		18 August 1990	Right-handed	–	14	177	205.81	–	–	2	–
88	Charli Knott		5 May 2003	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	8	21	72.41	2	5.33	1	–
19	Georgia Voll		5 August 2003	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	11	153	100.65	–	–	4	–
All-rounders
32	Nadine de Klerk		16 January 2000	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	9	89	117.10	3	6.43	2	–	Overseas marquee
17	Grace Harris		18 September 1993	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	14	246	95.71	13	5.95	5	–
21	Jess Jonassen		5 November 1992	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox	14	231	111.05	17	6.52	6	–	Captain, Australian marquee
56	Lilly Mills		2 January 2001	Right-handed	Right-arm off spin	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Wicketkeeper
8	Georgia Redmayne		8 December 1993	Left-handed	–	14	357	118.60	–	–	11	7
Bowlers
44	Nicola Hancock		8 November 1995	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	12	7	58.33	11	6.78	3	–
48	Amelia Kerr		13 October 2000	Right-handed	Right-arm leg spin	14	97	97.00	17	5.32	2	–	Overseas marquee
11	Delissa Kimmince		14 May 1989	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	11	15	107.14	9	7.80	6	–	Australian marquee
16	Georgia Prestwidge		17 December 1997	Right-handed	Right-arm medium fast	11	8	72.72	7	7.13	8	–
37	Courtney Sippel		27 April 2001	Left-handed	Right-arm medium fast	7	5	125.00	4	7.30	1	–

Ladder

•   The top 4 teams advance to the play-off phase

Fixtures

All times are local time

Regular season

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

• No toss
• No play was possible due to rain
• Broadcast by Cricket Network

• Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to field
• Match was reduced to 11 overs per side due to rain delay
• Hobart Hurricanes were set a revised target of 106 from 11 overs
• No further play was possible due to rain
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Sydney Thunder's innings reduced to 12.1 overs due to rain delay
• Brisbane Heat were set a revised target of 45 from 5 overs
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

• Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
• Broadcast by Fox Cricket and Cricket Network

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

• Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to bat
• Broadcast by Fox Cricket and Cricket Network

• Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Cricket Network

• Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat
• Broadcast by Cricket Network
• Venue changed from Sydney Showground Stadium

• Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
• Broadcast by Fox Cricket and Cricket Network
• Venue changed from Blacktown International Sportspark

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Cricket Network

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Cricket Network

• Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field
• Match reduced to 17 overs per side due to rain delay
• Melbourne Renegades were set a revised target of 120 from 17 overs due to rain delay
• Broadcast by Cricket Network
• Match originally scheduled to begin at 14:30, start time brought forward by 45 minutes

Knockout phase

• Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
• Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
• Former Australian player Delissa Kimmince made her last WBBL appearance

Tammy Beaumont launched the Sydney Thunder off to a fast start with 27 runs from 20 deliveries, though she was brought undone by a Nicola Hancock slower ball during the last over of the powerplay. The Thunder struggled throughout the middle portion of the innings, especially troubled by Brisbane Heat bowlers Nadine de Klerk and Amelia Kerr who collectively managed economical figures of 3/30 from seven overs. Instead of choosing to bowl the 20th over herself, Heat captain Jess Jonassen turned to the medium pace of Delissa Kimmince to close out the innings. Thunder captain Rachael Haynes ensured a respectable total for her team, finishing on 48 not out, as Sydney scored 15 from the final over and set Brisbane a target of 144 for victory.

Thunder spinner Samantha Bates struck early in the run chase, bowling Grace Harris for six, before being hit for three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over by Georgia Redmayne. Soon after playing-and-missing three times in a row to Shabnim Ismail, Redmayne was caught for 25 by Haynes at mid-on off the bowling of Sammy-Jo Johnson. Promoted up the batting order to number three, de Klerk formed a steady partnership with Jonassen, putting on 46 runs together in little more than six overs. When Jonassen fell for 19 (caught-and-bowled by Hannah Darlington) the Heat required a manageable task of 64 runs from 52 balls with seven wickets in hand. In the following over, de Klerk was run out by a direct hit from Beaumont for a run-a-ball 27. Facing her first delivery, Laura Kimmince survived an extremely close call, playing a flighted Bates delivery on to leg stump—the ball, however, did not connect with enough force to dislodge the bails. Kimmince quickly took advantage of her luck, manically compiling 37 runs from her next 15 balls. Although her aggressive strokeplay led to a plummeting required run rate, she was involved in two running-between-the-wickets mix-ups which led to the run outs of Georgia Voll and Amelia Kerr, keeping the door ajar for a miraculous Sydney comeback.

On the last delivery of the 17th over, with the Brisbane Heat needing just 16 runs to win, Laura Kimmince attempted a high-risk reverse slog against Samantha Bates, only to miss the ball which deflected off her thigh before crashing into the stumps—the bails, this time, were sent airborne. Taking the ball in the 18th over, Hannah Darlington struck twice in two balls to put the Heat in the precarious position of needing 14 runs with only one wicket in hand. Sammy-Jo Johnson completed the Thunder's remarkable resurrection on the third ball of the 19th over, removing Delissa Kimmince for a golden duck via caught-and-bowled, sealing a twelve-run victory and cementing Sydney's spot in Saturday's final. Brisbane's sudden "horror" collapse consisted of losing six wickets for twelve runs, ultimately ending their seven-match winning streak and quest for a three-peat. Media outlets described the match and its unlikely outcome as "chaotic," a "rollercoaster" and "one of the best comebacks in the WBBL's short history." Seven Network commentator Trent Copeland said "when Kimmince was flying you thought the game was gone," and Fox Cricket analyst Molly Strano commented "I don't think I've seen such massive swings in momentum in a game, ever."

Statistics and awards

• Most runs: Georgia Redmayne – 357 (9th in the league)
• Highest score in an innings: Grace Harris – 81* (52) vs Melbourne Stars, 8 November
• Most wickets: Jess Jonassen, Amelia Kerr – 17 each (equal 6th in the league)
• Best bowling figures in an innings: Georgia Prestwidge – 4/12 (3.2 overs) vs Melbourne Renegades, 22 November
• Most catches: Georgia Prestwidge – 8 (equal 3rd in the league)
• Player of the Match awards:
  • Laura Kimmince – 3
  • Grace Harris, Georgia Redmayne – 2 each
  • Georgia Prestwidge – 1
• WBBL|06 Player of the Tournament: Grace Harris (equal 4th)
• WBBL|06 Team of the Tournament: Laura Kimmince, Ashley Noffke (coach)
• Heat Most Valuable Player: Amelia Kerr

References

1. "Host city, new start date locked in for WBBL|06". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
2. ^ "'Crazy': Cricket champs suffer horror collapse". NewsComAu. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
3. ^ "Epic meltdown ends Brisbane's WBBL reign". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
4. "COVID forces marquee shake-up as WBBL contracting begins". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
5. "Scorchers poach World Cup star Mooney". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
6. "Thunderstruck: Sammy-Jo finds a new Big Bash home". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
7. ^ "Recruits round out Heat's squad for three-peat bid". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
8. "Heat Sign Rising Star for WBBL". Brisbane Heat. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
9. "Heat lock in new captain for WBBL title defence". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
10. "Players | Brisbane Heat - BBL". www.brisbaneheat.com.au. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
11. "Heat Finalise WBBL Squad". Brisbane Heat. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
12. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 - Brisbane Heat Women Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
13. "Rebel WBBL|06 | cricket.com.au". www.cricket.com.au. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
14. "WBBL Tickets Now On Sale". Sydney Sixers. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
15. "Adjustment to WBBLI06 fixture". Sydney Thunder. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
16. "Updated fixture! The start time for the @RenegadesWBBL v @HeatBBL match on Sunday has been brought forward to 1:45pm". Twitter. Archived from the original on 20 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
17. "Kimmince Retires". Brisbane Heat. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
18. "Thunder stun Heat to surge into WBBL final". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
19. Keoghan, Sarah (26 November 2020). "Thunder produce incredible comeback to progress to WBBL final". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
20. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
21. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
22. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
23. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
24. "Women's Big Bash League, 2020/21 Cricket Team Records & Stats | ESPNcricinfo.com". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
25. "rebel WBBL|06 Award Winners Announced". www.cricketaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
26. "Devine takes top individual gong in WBBL awards". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
27. "QC Celebrates Winners". qldcricket.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2021.

• Cricket
• Australia
• Sports

• 2020–21 Women's Big Bash League season by team
• Brisbane Heat (WBBL)