Heat and Renegades spin queens hold key to WBBL final

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Heat and Renegades spin queens hold key to WBBL final

The battle between Brisbane Heat captain Jess Jonassen and her Melbourne Renegades counterpart Sophie Molineux will go a long way to deciding the WBBL final at the MCG on Sunday.

The Heat were still assessing on Saturday the availability of No.3 batter Jemimah Rodrigues who injured her left wrist while fielding in the nine-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder on Friday night.

Rodrigues retired hurt with discomfort after making a blistering 43 off 30 deliveries in the run chase at Allan Border Field.

Sunday’s showdown has plenty of behind the scenes narratives but none more so than between the two left-arm spinners and allrounders Jonassen and Molineux.

Molineux is in the *********** side for the upcoming ODI clashes with India and New Zealand while Jonassen, a proven performer on the national scene, is not.

Both players have been integral in getting their teams to the WBBL final. Jonassen has three player-of-the-match awards this season for the Heat along with 16 wickets and 174 runs. Molineux has two best-player gongs, 15 wickets and 134 runs.

“They have both had really good seasons with bat and ball and are both in very good form so it is going to be an interesting battle,” Heat opener Georgia Redmayne said.

“It doesn’t come down to one person in a team. It comes down to 11. We are going to need a whole team performance and we’ve had that throughout the season. It just shows the program and depth we have here in Queensland.”

The other spinners from both sides will also play an integral role. Heat’s 21-year-old legspinner Grace Parsons was player of the match in the convincing win over the Sydney Thunder with a superb 3-10 while allrounder Charli Knott impressed early with her offspinners.

Renegades spinners Hayley Matthews and Georgia Wareham have 12 and 11 wickets respectively this summer.

The Renegades have never made a WBBL final. The Heat have made four finals and won two.

“We’ve been a pretty successful team over a long ******* of time,” Redmayne said.

“We have made Big Bash finals and WNCL finals so it is not an unfamiliar challenge for us.”

An added bonus for the Heat is the form of Redmayne in the win over the Thunder.

The stylish wicketkeeper was in complete control on her way to an unbeaten 53, her first half-century of the campaign.

“I’ve had a bit of an up and down season so it was nice to hit some form. I had a chat with a couple of the players yesterday and it doesn’t really matter what has come before,” she said on Friday night.

“It was all about the next two games. You can have a mental reset and go. One more game and hopefully we can get over the line. We’ve had some awesome team performances this year.”

The Heat are hopeful Rodrigues will be fit for the final.

Heat coach Mark Sorell said Rodrigues would be further assessed on Saturday when the squad travels to Melbourne.

“Fortunately, the initial assessment by the medical staff at the ground was quite positive,” he said.

“Jemi made a good call to come off when she did with the run chase looking solid. Hopefully it will settle down quickly.”

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