# 2018–19 Perth Scorchers WBBL season

The 2018–19 Perth Scorchers Women's season was the fourth in the team's history. Coached by Lisa Keightley and captained by Meg Lanning, they finished fifth in the regular season of WBBL|04 and consequently failed to qualify for the finals for the first time.

## Squad

Each 2018–19 squad featured 15 active players, with an allowance of up to five marquee signings including a maximum of three from overseas. Under a new rule, Australian marquees were classed as players who held a national women's team contract at the time of signing on for their WBBL|04 team.
Personnel changes before and during the season included:
* Overseas marquee Katherine Brunt, who had won the team's Most Valuable Player award for the first three seasons, and fellow English player Nat Sciver would not return for WBBL|04.
* The Scorchers filled their vacant marquee positions with England players Kate Cross and Amy Jones. Cross, who had previously played in the WBBL for the Brisbane Heat, and Jones, who had previously won a WBBL title as a replacement player with the Sydney Sixers, entered the season with cricket experience in Perth as members of the Western Fury in the WNCL.
* 19-year-old fast bowler Hayleigh Brennan joined the Scorchers, having played for the Melbourne Stars in the previous season.
* Meg Lanning assumed the captaincy, having missed the entirety of the previous season after undergoing shoulder surgery. She would, however, continue to deal with more injury issues throughout WBBL|04, leaving Elyse Villani to stand in as acting captain for five matches.
* Nicole Bolton withdrew from the squad for the last three games of the season for personal reasons.
* Hayley Jensen was signed as a replacement player for six games that Lanning and Bolton were collectively unavailable for. A permanent Australian resident, Jensen had played in the two previous WBBL seasons as a local player for the Melbourne Renegades. However, due to earning re-selection in her native New Zealand national team, she could only compete in WBBL|04 as an overseas marquee.
* Bhavisha Devchand joined the squad initially as a local replacement player for Amy Jones who would miss the first game of the season due to a resting policy enforced by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Devchand continued to serve as a replacement player throughout the season for Piepa Cleary, who would miss several games after undergoing surgery on a fractured and dislocated thumb sustained during a practice match, and later for Elyse Villani, who would sit out three games with a hamstring injury.
The table below lists the Scorchers players and their key stats (including runs scored, batting strike rate, wickets taken, economy rate, catches and stumpings) for the season.
| No. | Name | Birth Date | Batting style | Bowling style | G | R | SR | W | E | C | S | Notes |
| Batters ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Mathilda Carmichael | 4 April 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 3 | 20 | 111.11 | – | – | 1 | – | |
| 22 | Lauren Ebsary | 15 March 1983 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 14 | 185 | 108.82 | – | – | 6 | – | |
| 7 | Meg Lanning | 25 March 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 9 | 389 | 137.45 | – | – | 6 | – | Captain, Australian marquee |
| 28 | Chloe Piparo | 5 September 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 14 | 93 | 102.19 | – | – | 4 | – | |
| 3 | Elyse Villani | 6 October 1989 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 11 | 403 | 112.88 | – | – | 6 | – | Australian marquee |
| All-rounders ||||||||||||||
| 12 | Nicole Bolton | 17 January 1989 | Left-handed | Right-arm off spin | 11 | 192 | 102.67 | 12 | 6.78 | 3 | – | Australian marquee |
| 11 | Heather Graham | 10 May 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 14 | 161 | 87.50 | 22 | 7.36 | 6 | – | |
| Wicket-keepers ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Megan Banting | 11 February 1996 | Right-handed | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 40 | Amy Jones | 13 June 1993 | Right-handed | – | 13 | 240 | 118.22 | – | – | 3 | 4 | Overseas marquee |
| 33 | Emily Smith | 9 January 1995 | Right-handed | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |
| Bowlers ||||||||||||||
| 27 | Hayleigh Brennan | 5 March 1999 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 9 | 11 | 100.00 | 1 | 8.14 | 1 | – | |
| 8 | Piepa Cleary | 17 July 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 4 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 8.53 | 0 | – | |
| 61 | Kate Cross | 3 October 1991 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 14 | 70 | 109.37 | 6 | 7.29 | 7 | – | Overseas marquee |
| 24 | Bhavisha Devchand | 24 December 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | 4 | 17 | 77.27 | 1 | 9.60 | 1 | – | Local replacement |
| 31 | Hayley Jensen | 7 October 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 6 | 30 | 96.77 | 8 | 7.95 | 1 | – | Overseas marquee (replacement) |
| 2 | Emma King | 25 March 1992 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 14 | 8 | 72.72 | 8 | 7.05 | 2 | – | |
| 6 | Taneale Peschel | 29 August 1994 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium fast | 13 | 11 | 78.57 | 9 | 7.60 | 1 | – | |

## Ladder

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Sydney Sixers (RU) | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0.509 |
| 2 | Sydney Thunder | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 19 | 0.479 |
| 3 | Brisbane Heat (C) | 14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 18 | 1.118 |
| 4 | Melbourne Renegades | 14 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 15 | −0.079 |
| 5 | Perth Scorchers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | −0.476 |
| 6 | Adelaide Strikers | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.336 |
| 7 | Melbourne Stars | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 | −0.905 |
| 8 | Hobart Hurricanes | 14 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 4 | −0.364 |
* The four top ranked teams qualified for the semi finals

## Fixtures

All times are local time
* Match 1 1 December 2018 10:40 Scorecard
| Hobart Hurricanes 7/143 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 4/147 (19.3 overs) |
| Georgia Redmayne 49 (48) Heather Graham 3/25 (4 overs) | | Elyse Villani 58 (39) Sasha Moloney 2/19 (3 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 6 wickets (with 3 balls remaining) CitiPower Centre, St Kilda Umpires: Daryl Brigham and Darren Close Player of the match: Elyse Villani (Perth Scorchers)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 5 7 December 2018 19:10 (D/N) Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 9/167 (20.0 overs) | v | Sydney Sixers 4/171 (18.4 overs) |
| Amy Jones 57 (29) Dane van Niekerk 3/32 (4 overs) | | Ellyse Perry 102* (59) Heather Graham 2/33 (3.4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 6 wickets (with 8 balls remaining) North Sydney Oval No. 1 Umpires: Simon Lightbody and Marc Nickl Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 8 8 December 2018 14:50 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 8/103 (20 overs) | v | Brisbane Heat 3/104 (12.5 overs) |
| Elyse Villani 45 (55) Sammy-Jo Johnson 2/9 (4 overs) | | Jess Jonassen 28* (17) Kate Cross 2/26 (2.5 overs) |
* Brisbane Heat won by 7 wickets (with 43 balls remaining) North Sydney Oval No. 1 Umpires: Andrew Hamilton and Ben Treloar Player of the match: Sammy-Jo Johnson (Brisbane Heat)
* Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 13 15 December 2018 10:00 Scorecard
| Melbourne Stars 9/124 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 2/125 (19 overs) |
| Georgia Elwiss 26 (24) Emma King 2/12 (3 overs) | | Elyse Villani 52* (49) Erin Osborne 1/19 (4 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 8 wickets (with 6 balls remaining) Casey Fields, Melbourne Umpires: Dale Ireland and Mattis van Eck Player of the match: Heather Graham (Perth Scorchers)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field
* Match 16 16 December 2018 10:00 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 7/90 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Stars 6/91 (15.3 overs) |
| Nicole Bolton 36 (44) Kristen Beams 3/13 (3 overs) | | Katie Mack 33 (31) Hayley Jensen 2/16 (3 overs) |
* Melbourne Stars won by 4 wickets (with 27 balls remaining) Casey Fields, Melbourne Umpires: Dale Ireland and Mattis van Eck Player of the match: Katie Mack (Melbourne Stars)
* Melbourne Stars won the toss and elected to field
* Match 20 18 December 2018 12:00 Scorecard
| Hobart Hurricanes 7/173 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 6/173 (20 overs) |
| Smriti Mandhana 38 (23) Nicole Bolton 3/20 (4 overs) | | Heather Graham 44* (30) Brooke Hepburn 2/22 (4 overs) |
* Match tied (Perth Scorchers won the one over eliminator) Blundstone Arena, Hobart Umpires: Muhammad Qureshi and Jeremiah Matibiri Player of the match: Heather Graham (Perth Scorchers)
* Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 25 22 December 16:30 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 6/122 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades 6/123 (17.1 overs) |
| Heather Graham 42 (41) Lea Tahuhu 2/12 (2 overs) | | Jess Cameron 35 (31) Nicole Bolton 3/28 (4 overs) |
* Melbourne Renegades won by 4 wickets (with 17 balls remaining) WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: J Paterson and James Hewitt Player of the match: Heather Graham (Perth Scorchers)
* Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field
* Match 28 23 December 14:00 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 2/172 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades 6/157 (20 overs) |
| Meg Lanning 75 (50) Molly Strano 1/29 (3 overs) | | Danielle Wyatt 42 (34) Heather Graham 2/32 (4 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 15 runs WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: Dean Trigg and Ashlee Gibbons Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Perth Scorchers)
* Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to field
* Match 30 26 December 22:45 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 5/136 (20 overs) | v | Brisbane Heat 5/139 (19.2 overs) |
| Meg Lanning 70 (56) Haidee Birkett 3/19 (4 overs) | | Beth Mooney 35 (28) Nicole Bolton 2/12 (4 overs) |
* Brisbane Heat won by 5 wickets (with 4 balls remaining) Optus Stadium, Perth Attendance:14,983 Umpires: Nathan Johnstone and Trent Steenholdt Player of the match: Haidee Birkett (Brisbane Heat)
* Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to field
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Played as a double-header after a men's BBL match
* Match 33 29 December 10:00 Scorecard
| Sydney Thunder 5/179 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 4/180 (19.5 overs) |
| Rachael Haynes 50 (40) Piepa Cleary 2/28 (4 overs) | | Meg Lanning 76 (40) Nicola Carey 2/35 (4 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 6 wickets (with 1 ball remaining) Lilac Hill Park, Perth Umpires: Ashlee Gibbons and James Hewitt Player of the match: Meg Lanning (Perth Scorchers)
* Perth Scorchers won the toss and elected to field
* Perth Scorchers set a new record for the highest successful run chase in a WBBL match
The Thunder were catapulted to a score of 5/179 by a late 49-run partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and Stafanie Taylor (which included 21 runs off the 18th over against the bowling of Taneale Peschel, who had taken 1/12 in her first three overs). Eight overs into the second innings, captain Meg Lanning had scored 71 of the Scorchers' 83 runs. Although Lanning was run out for 76 in the tenth over, Elyse Villani went on to score 66 not out, guiding the Scorchers to a six-wicket victory with one ball remaining. In doing so, the Scorchers set a new WBBL record for highest successful run chase.
* Match 35 30 December 10:00 Scorecard
| Perth Scorchers 7/127 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 5/124 (20 overs) |
| Nicole Bolton 50 (41) Lisa Griffith 2/17 (3 overs) | | Alex Blackwell 37 (30) Heather Graham 2/8 (3 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 3 runs Lilac Hill Park, Perth Umpires: Trent Steenholdt and J Paterson Player of the match: Nicole Bolton (Perth Scorchers)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field
* Match 44 6 January 10:00 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 2/183 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 151 (19.4 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 80* (54) Piepa Cleary 1/27 (3 overs) | | Meg Lanning 76 (51) Lauren Cheatle 2/19 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 32 runs Lilac Hill Park, Perth Umpires: Dean Trigg and Trent Steenholdt Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 51 12 January 10:50 Scorecard
| Adelaide Strikers 7/138 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 108 (18.3 overs) |
| Sophie Devine 59 (48) Heather Graham 2/25 (4 overs) | | Lauren Ebsary 38 (30) Danielle Hazell 3/20 (4 overs) |
* Adelaide Strikers won by 30 runs Albrecht Oval, Alice Springs Umpires: Harry Singh and Craig Thomas Player of the match: Sophie Devine (Adelaide Strikers)
* Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat
* Venue changed to Albrecht Oval due to an unsafe outfield at Traeger Park
* Match 54 13 January 10:50 Scorecard
| Adelaide Strikers 6/140 (20 overs) | v | Perth Scorchers 0/144 (16.4 overs) |
| Suzie Bates 39 (35) Emma King 2/19 (4 overs) | | Meg Lanning 70* (48) Sophie Devine 0/18 (3 overs) |
* Perth Scorchers won by 10 wickets (with 20 balls remaining) Albrecht Oval, Alice Springs Umpires: Harry Singh and Craig Thomas Player of the match: Amy Jones (Perth Scorchers)
* Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to bat
* Venue changed to Albrecht Oval due to an unsafe outfield at Traeger Park
* Former Australian player Lauren Ebsary made her last WBBL appearance

## Statistics and awards

* Most runs: Elyse Villani – 403 (6th in the league)
* Highest score in an innings: Meg Lanning – 76 (40) vs Sydney Thunder, 29 December 2018
* Most wickets: Heather Graham – 22 (equal 1st in the league)
* Best bowling figures in an innings: Nicole Bolton – 3/20 (4 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 18 December 2018
* Most catches (fielder): Kate Cross – 7 (equal 9th in the league)
* Player of the Match awards:
** Heather Graham – 3
** Meg Lanning – 2
** Nicole Bolton, Amy Jones, Elyse Villani – 1 each
* Scorchers Player of the Year: Heather Graham
* WBBL|04 Player of the Tournament: Meg Lanning (equal 4th), Elyse Villani (7th)
* WBBL|04 Team of the Tournament: Heather Graham, Meg Lanning