Brisbane Heat come through last-ball thriller to seal finals spot

Nicola Carey was left with 13 to get off the last over of the Sydney Thunder chase, bowled by Jess Jonassen, and five off the final ball. She swung and seemed set to get six – or at least four to take the tie to the Super Over – but only for Birkett, running to her left, to stretch out and pluck the ball out of the air.

Heat's 140/7 at the Drummoyne Oval in the first semi-final on Saturday, 19 January, was thus enough to take them to the final of the fourth edition of the WBBL, having kept Thunder to 136/7.

"It's unreal!" said a thrilled Birkett after the game. "[I] didn't think about it, it was six off the bat. It was one of those ones where you have to do so much that you're just there, all of a sudden it's in your hand, and they either stick or they don't. I was just lucky with that!

"If that had gone for six, we would have been gutted losing on the last ball," she added. "In cricket, you do fake to make it. You run hard and make it look like you're going to go for the ball, and I realised I was actually there, so I stuck my hands out and it stuck."

Put in to bat, Heat were in some trouble at 38/3 before Johnson combined with the middle order to give the innings some impetus. She struck two sixes and as many fours in her 26-ball 33. Laura Harris' 32* off 25 pushed the total to 140, which was the third-highest total in a WBBL knock-out game.

Thunder lost Rachael Haynes for a duck, but Rachel Priest kept them on track with 44 off 33 balls, including two sixes and five fours, while Alex Blackwell, the captain, contributed 29 off 28 balls.

The Heat bowlers, though, backed themselves to defend the total. Johnson conceded just 12 in her four overs for one wicket, while Jemma Barsby got three wickets in two overs, including the big one of Blackwell.

Carey was on 19 off nine, and facing the last ball, all results were possible. Despite her best efforts, however, it was not to be.

"That's kind of what T20 is about, under pressure, taking those opportunities," rued Blackwell. "At the end of the day, one boundary was all the difference. I'm really proud of the girls. We've had a fantastic season, we've had a lot of fun and we've had a lot of development especially in the bowling group."