WBBL Season 5 (2019-20): Brisbane Heat Win Back-to-Back Titles, Sophie Devine Scores 769 Runs for Losing Strikers

Brisbane Heat won their second consecutive Women's Big Bash League title on 8 December 2019 at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, defeating Adelaide Strikers by 6 wickets with 11 balls to spare. Adelaide posted 161/7; Brisbane chased it down comfortably. Beth Mooney scored 56* off 45 balls as Player of the Final — the second consecutive WBBL final in which Mooney had won that award. Sophie Devine (Adelaide Strikers) won Player of the Tournament with 769 runs despite her team losing the final.

Sophie Devine: 769 Runs — The Dominant Individual Season

Sophie Devine's 769 runs in WBBL Season 5 was one of the highest individual batting totals in a single WBBL season at the time — a campaign so dominant it earned the Player of the Tournament award from the losing finalist team. Devine, New Zealand's right-handed captain and one of women's cricket's most destructive opening batters, brought her attacking instincts and classical timing to the WBBL competition across the full season. Her 769 runs, at a strike rate that matched the aggression of her run-scoring, reflected both the volume and quality of her batting — she scored runs quickly and consistently, making her the WBBL Season 5's defining individual performer regardless of the final result.

Beth Mooney: Back-to-Back Player of the Final Awards

Beth Mooney's 56* in the WBBL Season 5 final was her second consecutive Player of the Final award — she had also won the equivalent award in WBBL Season 4 for Brisbane Heat. Mooney — Queensland's left-handed wicketkeeper-batter who would become Australia's most prolific WBBL batter across multiple seasons — built her reputation in this period for performing under finals pressure: her ability to anchor a chase while maintaining a strike rate that accelerated when the situation demanded made her the natural Player of the Final in both of Brisbane's consecutive title-winning campaigns.

WBBL Season 5 in Context

WBBL Season 5 (2019-20) was the last WBBL season before the competition was significantly disrupted by COVID-19 — Season 6 (2020-21) would be played in a compressed Sydney hub, removing the home-and-away format that had been central to WBBL seasons 1-5. Brisbane Heat's title at their home ground (Allan Border Field) in what would be the last normal-format WBBL season for several years gave their back-to-back achievement a symbolic completeness. The competition's competitive balance across the first five seasons — five different champions across the first five seasons before Brisbane broke the sequence with their back-to-back — reflected the WBBL's genuine competitiveness.