# 2018–19 Sydney Sixers WBBL season

The 2018–19 Sydney Sixers Women's season was the fourth in the team's history. Coached by Ben Sawyer, they finished the regular season of WBBL|04 on top of the ladder to claim their third-consecutive minor premiership while captain Ellyse Perry set a new Women's Big Bash League record for most runs in a single campaign and was named Player of the Tournament.
In the semi-finals, the Sixers won a "miracle" encounter against the Melbourne Renegades which was notable for a last-ball run out that forced the game into a super over. In the championship decider, the Sixers fell short of achieving a three-peat, losing a "classic" contest to the Brisbane Heat by three wickets.

## 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. This, combined with the introduction of two-year contracts ahead of the previous season, meant that the Sixers would inadvertently exceed their marquee player limit in 2018–19. To address this inequity, an injured or unavailable Sixers marquee could only be replaced by a domestic player.
Personnel changes for the Sixers ahead of WBBL|04 included:
* Sarah Coyte returned to her original WBBL team, the Adelaide Strikers.
* Angela Reakes departed the team and subsequently joined the Melbourne Stars.
* Local teenage players Stella Campbell, Hayley Silver-Holmes and Tahlia Wilson were added to the roster.
The table below lists the Sixers 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 ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ashleigh Gardner | 15 April 1997 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 16 | 337 | 115.01 | 3 | 8.34 | 2 | – | Australian marquee |
| 28 | Sara McGlashan | 28 March 1982 | Right-handed | – | 16 | 69 | 85.81 | – | – | 5 | – | Overseas marquee |
| 21 | Tahlia Wilson | 21 October 1999 | Right-handed | – | 5 | 5 | 62.50 | – | – | 1 | – | |
| All-rounders ||||||||||||||
| 29 | Erin Burns | 22 June 1988 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 16 | 250 | 129.53 | 11 | 6.53 | 5 | – | |
| 13 | Clara Iemma | 31 October 1998 | Left-handed | Right-arm off spin | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 8 | Ellyse Perry | 3 November 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | 16 | 778 | 121.21 | 10 | 6.89 | 9 | – | Captain, Australian marquee |
| 20 | Dane van Niekerk | 14 May 1993 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | 16 | 174 | 116.77 | 19 | 6.70 | 3 | – | Overseas marquee |
| Wicket-keeper ||||||||||||||
| 77 | Alyssa Healy | 24 March 1990 | Right-handed | – | 16 | 445 | 141.71 | – | – | 11 | 6 | Australian marquee |
| Bowlers ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Sarah Aley | 3 June 1984 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 11 | 2 | 33.33 | 4 | 8.52 | 3 | – | |
| 18 | Stella Campbell | 15 June 2002 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 5 | Lauren Cheatle | 6 November 1998 | Left-handed | Left-arm fast medium | 16 | 9 | 81.81 | 14 | 6.97 | 0 | – | Australian marquee |
| 17 | Marizanne Kapp | 4 January 1990 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | 16 | 67 | 91.78 | 20 | 5.80 | 2 | – | Overseas marquee |
| 74 | Carly Leeson | 9 November 1998 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2 | 4 | 66.66 | – | – | 1 | – | |
| 4 | Hayley Silver-Holmes | 18 August 2003 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | 14 | 7 | 50.00 | 3 | 9.72 | 5 | – | |
| 2 | Lauren Smith | 6 October 1996 | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | 16 | 40 | 78.43 | 10 | 6.85 | 6 | – | |

## 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

### Regular season

* Match 2 1 December 2018 13:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 7/165 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Stars 3/166 (17.2 overs) |
| Alyssa Healy 70 (47) Nicola Hancock 4/22 (4 overs) | | Lizelle Lee 102 (56) Dane van Niekerk 1/22 (3 overs) |
* Melbourne Stars won by 7 wickets (with 16 balls remaining) CitiPower Centre, St Kilda Umpires: Mattis van Eck and Michael Graham-Smith Player of the match: Lizelle Lee (Melbourne Stars)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* 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 9 8 December 2018 19:10 (D/N) Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 4/168 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 7/132 (20 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 75* (66) Stafanie Taylor 2/16 (3 overs) | | Harmanpreet Kaur 45 (28) Ellyse Perry 2/11 (3 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 36 runs North Sydney Oval No. 1 Umpires: Marc Nickl and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 15 15 December 2018 19:00 (D/N) Scorecard
| Hobart Hurricanes 5/133 (15 overs) | v | Sydney Sixers 3/155 (14.4 overs) |
| Heather Knight 51* (35) Marizanne Kapp 2/20 (3 overs) | | Ashleigh Gardner 79* (50) Veronica Pyke 1/14 (1.4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 7 wickets (with 2 balls remaining) (D/L method) Blundstone Arena, Hobart Umpires: Jeremiah Matibiri and G Beechey Player of the match: Ashleigh Gardner (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to field
* Match reduced to 15 overs per team due to rain delay
* Sydney Sixers' target revised to 152
* Match 18 16 December 2018 13:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 3/158 (20 overs) | v | Hobart Hurricanes 141 (19.1 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 72* (55) Rhiann O'Donnell 1/27 (4 overs) | | Georgia Redmayne 47* (36) Marizanne Kapp 4/27 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 17 runs Blundstone Arena, Hobart Umpires: Muhammad Qureshi and Ben Treloar Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to field
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 24 22 December 11:10 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 3/166 (20 overs) | v | Brisbane Heat 7/155 (20 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 103* (64) Delissa Kimmince 1/25 (4 overs) | | Jess Jonassen 33 (27) Erin Burns 2/9 (2 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 11 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Andrew Hamilton and Berend du Plessis Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 27 23 December 14:10 Scorecard
| Brisbane Heat 7/154 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Sixers 88 (18 overs) |
| Sammy-Jo Johnson 51 (30) Erin Burns 3/20 (4 overs) | | Dane van Niekerk 25 (33) Sammy-Jo Johnson 3/23 (4 overs) |
* Brisbane Heat won by 66 runs Hurstville Oval, Sydney Umpires: Roberto Howard and Berend du Plessis Player of the match: Sammy-Jo Johnson (Brisbane Heat)
* Brisbane Heat won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 31 27 December 14:50 Scorecard
| Melbourne Renegades 8/110 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Sixers 3/111 (14.1 overs) |
| Maitlan Brown 33 (30) Lauren Cheatle 2/6 (2 overs) | | Alyssa Healy 70* (42) Molly Strano 3/26 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 7 wickets (with 35 balls remaining) Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: Berend du Plessis and Ryan Nelson Player of the match: Alyssa Healy (Sydney Sixers)
* Melbourne Renegades won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 32 28 December 14:10 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 1/206 (20 overs) | v | Adelaide Strikers 132 (19.1 overs) |
| Alyssa Healy 112* (69) Tahlia McGrath 0/19 (2 overs) | | Suzie Bates 46 (36) Lauren Cheatle 3/22 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 74 runs Hurstville Oval, Sydney Umpires: T Penman and Ryan Nelson Player of the match: Alyssa Healy (Sydney Sixers)
* Adelaide Strikers won the toss and elected to field
* Match 38 31 December 13:20 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 4/147 (20 overs) | v | Adelaide Strikers 8/139 (20 overs) |
| Ashleigh Gardner 49 (38) Amanda-Jade Wellington 2/19 (4 overs) | | Suzie Bates 60 (58) Dane van Niekerk 2/12 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 8 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: Claire Polosak and Eloise Sheridan Player of the match: Dane van Niekerk (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Match 40 2 January 14:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 7/98 (20 overs) | v | Sydney Thunder 2/101 (17.4 overs) |
| Marizanne Kapp 40 (41) Rachel Trenaman 2/11 (4 overs) | | Naomi Stalenberg 44 (50) Marizanne Kapp 1/13 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Thunder won by 8 wickets (with 14 balls remaining) Spotless Stadium, Sydney Umpires: Ryan Nelson and Ben Treloar Player of the match: Lisa Griffith (Sydney Thunder)
* Sydney Thunder won the toss and elected to field
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* 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 55 13 January 14:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 2/136 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades 8/107 (20 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 67* (62) Georgia Wareham 1/26 (3 overs) | | Jess Duffin 39 (39) Marizanne Kapp 2/19 (4 overs) |
* Sydney Sixers won by 29 runs GMHBA Stadium, Geelong Umpires: Daryl Brigham and Mattis van Eck Player of the match: Erin Burns (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Match 56 14 January 14:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 92 (19 overs) | v | Melbourne Stars 5/96 (16.4 overs) |
| Alyssa Healy 35 (21) Kristen Beams 3/11 (3 overs) | | Erin Osborne 34* (29) Marizanne Kapp 2/9 (4 overs) |
* Melbourne Stars won by 5 wickets (with 20 balls remaining) Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: Daryl Brigham and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Alana King (Melbourne Stars)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket

### Knockout phase

* Semi-final 2 19 January 13:50 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 4/131 (20 overs) | v | Melbourne Renegades 6/131 (20 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 54* (59) Lea Tahuhu 1/18 (4 overs) | | Sophie Molineux 55 (54) Erin Burns 2/13 (3 overs) |
* Match tied (Sydney Sixers won in a super over) Drummoyne Oval, Sydney Umpires: Claire Polosak and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Ellyse Perry became the first player to score 700 runs in a WBBL season
In the Renegades' first finals appearance, with three runs required off the last ball for an upset victory, Sophie Molineux was found short of her ground attempting the winning run due to a "miracle" piece of team fielding by Sixers players Erin Burns, Sarah Aley and Alyssa Healy. In the resulting super over, Sixers captain Ellyse Perry hit a six off Molly Strano to eliminate the Renegades from the tournament. The match, in conjunction with the other semi-final played earlier in the day, was hailed as a showcase of "the irrefutable rise of women's cricket" and "sport with drama, skill and unpredictability – a potent recipe for success".
* Final 26 January 10:10 Scorecard
| Sydney Sixers 7/131 (20 overs) | v | Brisbane Heat 7/132 (19.2 overs) |
| Ellyse Perry 33 (37) Grace Harris 3/23 (4 overs) | | Beth Mooney 65 (46) Erin Burns 2/25 (4 overs) |
* Brisbane Heat won by 3 wickets (with 4 balls remaining) Drummoyne Oval, Sydney Attendance: 5,368 Umpires: David Shepard and Donovan Koch Player of the match: Beth Mooney (Brisbane Heat)
* Sydney Sixers won the toss and elected to bat
* Broadcast by Seven Network and Fox Cricket
* Brisbane Heat won their first title
In front of the league's first-ever sellout crowd, the visiting Brisbane Heat pulled off an upset victory to win their maiden championship and deny a Sixers three-peat. Requiring 34 runs with 36 balls remaining, the Heat looked to be in control of the chase until the 15th over when Dane van Niekerk struck twice—including the removal of linchpin Beth Mooney for 65 through a forward-diving catch by Ellyse Perry in the outfield. Although Brisbane would continue to lose wickets, Laura Harris did enough to steady the ship, eventually hitting the winning runs with three wickets and four deliveries to spare. Player of the Final Mooney, who had been receiving on-field medical treatment for the flu and heat stroke, revealed in a post-match interview that her ongoing game delays instigated sledging from several opponents: "It was kind of nice to know while I wasn't feeling well, I was going well enough to piss them off and they were getting frustrated at how long I was taking to face up... I've played enough cricket against (the Sixers) to know what gets under their skin and we definitely won that battle."

## Statistics and awards

* Most runs: Ellyse Perry – 778 (1st in the league)
* Highest score in an innings: Alyssa Healy – 112* (69) vs Adelaide Strikers, 28 December 2018
* Most wickets: Marizanne Kapp – 20 (equal 3rd in the league)
* Best bowling figures in an innings: Marizanne Kapp – 4/27 (4 overs) vs Hobart Hurricanes, 16 December 2018
* Most catches (fielder): Ellyse Perry – 9 (equal 2nd in the league)
* Player of the Match awards:
** Ellyse Perry – 6
** Alyssa Healy – 2
** Erin Burns, Ashleigh Gardner, Dane van Niekerk – 1 each
* Sixers Player of the Tournament: Ellyse Perry
* WBBL|04 Player of the Tournament: Ellyse Perry (1st)
* WBBL|04 Team of the Tournament: Alyssa Healy, Marizanne Kapp, Ellyse Perry