Cricketer Jess Jonassen to captain Brisbane Heat in WBBL grand final
A magical milestone beckons for decorated captain Jess Jonassen and her Brisbane Heat teammates as they head into today’s WBBL grand final at the MCG.
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Jess Jonassen has the chance to cap what has been an extraordinary week by captaining the Brisbane Heat to a history-making WBBL title.
The Rockhampton all-rounder will lead the team onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground today (Sunday) for the highly anticipated grand final against the Melbourne Renegades.
The Heat are looking to become the first franchise to win three WBBL titles, while the Renegades are chasing their first.
It is the second-straight season the Heat have made the WBBL final, and seventh-straight season they have qualified for the finals series.
Skipper Jonassen said the playing group was “super excited” for the match-up against the minor premiers.
She said she would be urging her players, some of whom have never played at the iconic Melbourne venue, to make the most of it.
“We’re playing some really good cricket at the moment so can’t wait to get out there,” she said.
“We know it’s essentially a Renegades’ home game. For our girls, it’s just a matter of embracing it and enjoying it for what it is.
“It’s not too often that you get these opportunities, so treat it as if it’s going to be your last.”
It’s been a whirlwind week for Jonassen, who produced a Player of the Match performance in the Heat’s five-wicket win over the Sydney Sixers a week ago.
She took 3/26 and scored an unbeaten 39 off 29 balls in the victory which saw them finish second on the regular season ladder and earn a home preliminary final against the Sydney Thunder on Friday.
The Heat proved too good, beating their southern rivals by nine wickets, chasing down their total of 7-133 with 4.4 overs to spare.
Jonassen has been instrumental in the Heat’s six-game winning run into today’s final.
She was, just days ago, named in the WBBL Team of the Decade, recognised as the competition’s leading wicket-taker and having scored more than 2000 runs.
She is hoping the Heat can keep “riding the wave” to sweep the title and write a piece of WBBL history.
Jonassen and her teammates were keen to make amends for last season’s grand final loss to the Adelaide Strikers.
“It’s been in the back of quite a few of our minds to want to go that one step further this time around, and we’ve given ourselves the best possible opportunity for that,” she said.
“We’ve just got to try and make sure we’ve got one more good game left in us.”
The final starts at 1.20pm.
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