Lizelle Lee fires Hurricanes to maiden WBBL title

Lizelle Lee fired Hobart Hurricanes to their maiden WBBL crown with a blistering unbeaten half-century in the final against Perth Scorchers. Restricting the Scorchers to just 137/5 in the WBBL final, Hurricanes chased it down with ease in the end as they clinched victory with five overs to spare.

Lee set her sights on the moderate target by finding the boundary thrice in succession in the very first over of the chase. Danielle Wyatt-Hodge repeated the feat in the next over as Hurricanes raced to 24/0 in just two overs. While Lee continued to feast on the bowling attack, Wyatt-Hodge was bowled in the sixth over.

Scorchers needed more wickets at that stage given the required run rate was well within reach but Nat Sciver-Brunt added to their misery with a couple of quick boundaries to get going. After a couple of quiet overs, Lee smashed Alana King for back-to-back sixes and then cleared the ropes two more times in the following over to not only bring up her fifty but also pretty much put the game to bed. While Sciver-Brunt was eventually dismissed, Lee's blitz saw her break the record for the highest score in a WBBL final.

Earlier in the evening, Scorchers made a scratchy start. Playing their third game in five days, they just couldn't get going in the powerplay. Katie Mack was dismissed for a 21-ball 17 and the onus was on Beth Mooney again to lift the Scorchers. Having made scores of 94*, 45 and 76 in her last three outings, Mooney kept receiving one reprieve after another but couldn't capitalise on it as she was castled for 33 by Heather Graham.

Sophie Devine and Paige Scholfield tried to inject some momentum into the innings with a few boundaries. With four overs left, Scorchers were 106/4 and needed a big finish to breach 150. However, Devine was stumped in the following over immediately after she had smashed a six. While Scholfield found some handy boundaries, she also failed to score a single run off four successive balls in the final over which meant Scorchers had to be content with just 137 - a total that was nowhere threatening enough for Lee.

Brief scores: Perth Scorchers Women 137/5 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 34, Beth Mooney 33; Linsey Smith 2/8) lost to Hobart Hurricanes Women 141/2 in 15 overs (Lizelle Lee 77*, Nat Sciver-Brunt 35; Amy Edgar 1/13) by 8 wickets