WBBL 2025-26: Hobart Hurricanes Win Maiden Title, Lizelle Lee Sets Final Record With 77*

Hobart Hurricanes won their first Women's Big Bash League title on 13 December 2025, beating Perth Scorchers by 8 wickets at their home ground in Hobart. Lizelle Lee's unbeaten 77 off 44 balls — the highest score in any WBBL final by a single batter — made the chase look routine: Perth's 137/5 was reached with 30 balls remaining as Lee and Nat Sciver-Brunt constructed a dominant partnership that ended any chance of a contest. For the Hurricanes, who had never before won the WBBL despite several near-misses, the maiden title was the culmination of years of squad building.

Lizelle Lee's Record-Breaking 77*

Lizelle Lee — the South African opening batter who has been one of the most explosive powerplay batters in women's T20 cricket since the late 2010s — played the defining innings of the WBBL 2025-26 season in the final. Her 77* off 44 balls combined clean hitting with calculated aggression: Perth's bowling attack, which had been effective throughout the season, could not contain her boundary-hitting in the Hobart conditions. The 77* surpassed the previous WBBL final record and gave the Hurricanes a win with 30 balls to spare — a margin of victory that reflects not just Lee's brilliance but the overall dominance of Hobart's campaign in the knockout stages.

Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Graham

The supporting cast to Lee's innings included Nat Sciver-Brunt (35 in the chase) — the England captain and all-rounder whose WBBL contract with Hobart brought international quality to the Hurricanes' batting order. In the bowling, Heather Graham and Linsey Smith each took two wickets to restrict Perth Scorchers to 137/5 — a total that, while competitive on most WBBL grounds, proved insufficient against the Hurricanes' batting firepower at their Hobart home ground. Perth Scorchers' Sophie Devine (34) and Beth Mooney (33 off 26 balls) were their best batting contributions in the final.

Hobart Hurricanes' WBBL Journey

Hobart Hurricanes competed in ten WBBL seasons before winning the title in Season 11. Their maiden championship came in the same competition cycle as their male counterparts' near-miss seasons — an emotional moment for the Tasmanian cricket community. Hobart's women's squad has been built around developing local Tasmanian players alongside targeted overseas contracts: Lee (South Africa), Sciver-Brunt (England), and several others represent the international tier, while the core Australian players in the squad have come through Tasmania's pathway programs. The WBBL's model of distributing international talent across all eight squads has allowed smaller-state teams like Hobart to compete with the larger state clubs.

WBBL Format and Significance

The Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) runs concurrently with the men's BBL from October to December each year. Eight teams — the same franchise brands as the men's BBL — compete in a 59-match competition before finals. The WBBL has grown from modest beginnings in 2015 to a competition that regularly draws international audiences. Its most-watched matches feature a mix of Australia's world-class domestic players and international stars contracted to each team under overseas slots. Australia's dominance of women's T20 cricket globally is partly attributed to the WBBL's competitive depth — providing Australian players year-round T20 exposure that most other nations cannot replicate.