The Adelaide Strikers have named their 13-player squad to head to the WBBL|05 finals at Allan Border Field this weekend.
Darcie Brown comes into the squad to replace international Lauren Winfield, who has joined up with the England team in Malaysia to play a series against Pakistan.
The Brisbane Heat earned the right to host WBBL Finals Weekend after finishing on top of the ladder – both the Heat and the Strikers finished on 10 wins, with the Heat edging out the Strikers on net run rate.
The Strikers will play third-placed Perth Scorchers on Saturday morning, after meeting twice already in the regular season.
Adelaide defeated Perth at Allan Border Field early in the tournament, while the Scorchers earned the points at Karen Rolton Oval in a thriller, where Adelaide fell just three runs short of victory.
Perth will be without key international players Amy Jones and Nat Sciver who have also departed to join up with England.
Strikers vice-captain and opening bowler Megan Schutt is feeling confident heading into the weekend.
“Yeah we’re definitely (confident), we finished one and one throughout the round games (with the Scorchers) and they’ve been a pretty competitive side,” Schutt said.
“Sophie (Devine) is a huge plus but the big thing for us is that we’ve won games where she hasn’t made runs or taken a wicket so she’s certainly crucial at the top end but we’ve got the right depth that if we were to lose her early, we’re not going to panic.
“(A WBBL title) is one thing I haven’t ticked off yet…we came in with a fresh team this year and placed some expectations on ourselves to make finals but to actually take the trophy home as well would be huge.”
Both semi-finals (1 v 4 and 2 v 3) take place on Saturday, with the winner of each match progressing into Sunday’s final.
All finals this weekend can be watched live on 7 Mate, Fox Cricket and Kayo. ABC Grandstand will also be calling all three matches live.
Adelaide Strikers WBBL Finals Weekend squad
Suzie Bates (c)
Ellie Falconer
Sarah Coyte
Sophie Devine
Katie Mack
Tahlia McGrath
Tegan McPharlin
Annie O’Neil
Bridget Patterson
Alex Price
Megan Schutt
Amanda-Jade Wellington
Darcie Brown