The Brisbane Heat are banking on their strong fitness and “perfect” line-up to get the job done on enemy territory in the WBBL grand final against the Adelaide Strikers.
The Heat finished the season in third spot, meaning they had to beat the fourth-placed Sydney Thunder and then the second-placed Perth Scorchers in consecutive days in order to make Saturday night’s decider.
Brisbane achieved the feat with ease, thumping the Thunder by 44 runs on Tuesday in the elimination final before crushing the Scorchers by 67 runs in Wednesday night’s preliminary final at the WACA.
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The Adelaide Strikers earned direct entry into the grand final after finishing three games clear on top of the ladder.
Their most recent match was last Sunday, meaning they will have had a six-day break by the time the grand final rolls around.
In contrast, the Heat will be playing their third match in the space of five days – across two different states.
But Heat spinner Georgia Voll, who snared career-best figures of 4-19 against the Scorchers, feels her team’s busy schedule could prove to be an advantage.
“It won’t bother us too much. That’s why we do all the fitness work we do in the pre-season,” Voll said.
“It’s great that we’ve actually carried some momentum to be honest, I think it’s probably done us good.
“I love playing a lot of cricket. And obviously for the team, we’ve had a bit of ups and downs through the year, but we’re sort of picking up momentum at the right time.
“So I think it’s done us really good having to play the two (finals) games in (two days).”
Adelaide, who are on a five-match winning run, are attempting to defend their title from last season.
They will start as warm favourites in the grand final in a match that will be played in front of their adoring fans at Adelaide Oval.
But Voll is backing the Heat to get the job done.
“It’s going to be a challenge but I think we’ve got the perfect team to roll them down there,” Voll said.
“Our balance in the batting – we bat pretty much all the way to 11.
“We back our skill to go hard pretty much the whole way through.
“And with our bowling, we back our two quicks and the spinners we’ve got to defend or set the tone.”
The Heat will lose England star Bess Heath for the grand final due to international duties.