WBBL Season 4 (2018-19): Brisbane Heat Win Maiden Title, Ellyse Perry Scores 777 Runs for Losing Sixers

Brisbane Heat won their first Women's Big Bash League title on 26 January 2019 — Australia Day — at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney, defeating Sydney Sixers by 3 wickets with 4 balls to spare. Sixers posted 131; Heat chased it down at 132/7, with Laura Harris hitting the winning runs. Beth Mooney scored 65 off 46 balls — playing through illness — as Player of the Match. Ellyse Perry (Sydney Sixers) won Player of the Tournament with 777 runs at an average of 86.33 despite being on the losing side.

Ellyse Perry: 777 Runs at 86.33 — Player of the Tournament from the Losing Side

Ellyse Perry's WBBL Season 4 campaign — 777 runs at an average of 86.33 across the full competition — was one of the most extraordinary individual batting seasons in WBBL history, earning her the Player of the Tournament award despite her Sydney Sixers losing the final. Perry, New South Wales and Australia's right-handed batter and right-arm seamer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest women's cricketers of all time, combined her classical batting technique with the consistency of averaging over 86 across a T20 competition — a number that reflects not just volume but dominance. Her 777 runs across WBBL Season 4 stood as one of the highest single-season totals in the competition's history at the time of its achievement.

Beth Mooney: 65 Off 46 While Unwell — Player of the Match in the Final

Beth Mooney's 65 off 46 balls in the WBBL Season 4 final at Drummoyne Oval — reportedly played while she was ill — became one of the defining moments of her WBBL career and a forerunner to the back-to-back finals dominance she established when also winning Player of the Final in WBBL Season 5 the following year. Mooney — Queensland and Australia's left-handed wicketkeeper-batter who would become the WBBL's all-time leading run-scorer across multiple seasons — built her reputation on finals performances under pressure, and her 65 off 46 balls while unwell in the Season 4 final is the founding moment of that narrative. Her innings gave Brisbane Heat the platform to chase down 132 from a position that might otherwise have been too uncertain.

WBBL Season 4 in Context

WBBL Season 4 (2018-19) was the fourth edition of the competition, by which point it had established itself as the world's premier domestic women's T20 league — attracting high-quality overseas players, building consistent crowds, and producing competitive cricket across the full eight-team season. The final's setting at Drummoyne Oval in Sydney on Australia Day — a public holiday — contributed to the sold-out crowd and the occasion's profile. Brisbane Heat's maiden title was built on a squad combining experienced Australian internationals (Mooney, Dottin) with a cohesive team structure that proved more consistent under finals pressure than the individually star-studded Sixers. Perry's 777-run season for the losing finalist confirmed that individual excellence and team success were operating on separate tracks in WBBL Season 4.