The determined Perth leg-spinner is pushing through pain to play a role in her side’s finals push
A broken finger has hampered Alana King’s hopes of maintaining her red-hot World Cup form throughout Weber WBBL|11, but the Scorchers leggie is determined to contribute in any way possible to her team’s late push for finals.
King, who picked up 13 wickets at the 50-over tournament in India including a record 7-18 against South Africa, fractured the little finger of her right bowling hand while fielding in Perth’s second game of the season against Brisbane Heat.
She hasn’t missed a game, wearing a split when she’s not bowling, however the fractured digit has understandably made it more difficult for her to grip the ball, and with five wickets in nine games she’s yet to have the impact she’s enjoyed in previous seasons.
Nonetheless King has persevered, and on Tuesday she chipped in with the bat, hammering 22 not out off eight balls to help set up a comprehensive win over the Melbourne Renegades.
“I probably haven’t had the season that I’ve wanted to these nine games, but can’t really do much with a little broken digit, so I’m still battling away with that and trying to contribute in whatever way I can for this team,” King said following Tuesday’s win.
“I love playing for the orange team, and whatever way I can start and try and contribute, I will.
“I would just like to tidy up my first one or two overs, definitely … no doubt I’ll have a chat with the bowling coaches and come up with a few plans with the skipper, but she backs me in.
“I’ve got the best hands behind the stumps as well (in Beth Mooney), always backing me in as well.
“As a group, we’re trying to really hit our straps when it comes to the pointy end of the season.”
After a stuttering start to the season, where they had a 2-3 record midway through the tournament, the Scorchers are now making a late charge, winning three of their last four to move inside the top four following their win over the Renegades.
They could finish as high as second if results fall their way, but their fate is not entirely within their control – they’ll need to knock off the struggling Heat at the WACA Ground in their final regular-season game on Saturday night, and they’ll also be relying on other teams – primarily the Strikers and Renegades – to drop their remaining matches.
“It has been a close season … a few rain-affected games have brought the comp(etition) a lot closer together,” King said.
“But just the way we went about it today, I think it was a really (strong) all-round performance from our team, and something that we’ve been speaking about.
“We wanted to have a bit more momentum in the first half of the innings into the second half.
“We knew how important this game was going into the pointy end of the season, so we’ve ticked off one and we’ve got one more to go against the Heat on Saturday.”
Unsurprisingly, it is the superstar pair of Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine again leading the charge for the Scorchers in WBBL|11.
Mooney is third on the runs table with 301 at a strike rate of 129.74, while Devine has hit 180 runs at 125 to go with her 12 wickets.
The Scorchers skipper was at her dominant best against the Renegades, hitting 40 off 28 deliveries and then taking 4-25.
“Soph’s found her groove, and I think it maybe took her a few games extra to what she’s normally used to, but to see the way she’s contributing and the way she’s going about it with the bat, and then just the all-round performance with the ball – four crucial wickets to set the game up for us,” King said of Devine.
“She always leads from the front, and I absolutely love having her as skipper. She keeps things pretty calm, pretty fun, and we’re all about that.”
Weber WBBL|11 Standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Ties
T
No results
N/R
Net Run Rate
NRR
Deductions
Ded.
Total points
PTS
1
HUR
9
7
2
0
0
0.662
0
14
2
STA
9
5
3
0
1
0.863
0
11
3
SIX
8
5
2
0
1
-0.157
0
11
4
SCO
9
5
4
0
0
-0.189
0
10
5
STR
8
3
3
0
2
0.097
0
8
6
REN
9
4
5
0
0
-0.067
0
8
7
THU
9
3
5
0
1
-0.296
0
7
8
HEA
9
0
8
0
1
-0.944
0
1
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
