Predicted finish: 4th — finals again, but the Mooney dependence has to end
Last summer the Scorchers did it the hard way. They finished third with six wins, came through the Knockout and the Challenger on the back of Beth Mooney, then ran out of legs in Hobart and lost the final by eight wickets. The core of that side is back: Mooney, Alana King, Sophie Devine as captain and Becky Grundy as coach. The headline addition is Pakistan captain Fatima Sana, one of the most interesting overseas signings the league has seen. I have them in the four again, with the batting depth behind Mooney the thing that decides whether they go further.
The squad
The Scorchers have 13 of their 15 list spots filled heading into Saturday’s opener, with Shay Manolini the remaining uncontracted name from last season.
Head coach: Becky Grundy
Captain: Sophie Devine
| Batters | All-rounders | Bowlers |
|---|---|---|
| Beth Mooney (wk) | Sophie Devine (NZ) | Alana King |
| Katie Mack | Freya Kemp (ENG) | Lilly Mills |
| Chloe Piparo | Fatima Sana (PAK) | Chloe Ainsworth |
| Mikayla Hinkley | Amy Edgar | Ebony Hoskin |
| Ruby Strange |
Ins: Fatima Sana (Pakistan)
Outs: Maddy Darke (to Sixers), Paige Scholfield (England)
Sana is the story. The 24-year-old has led Pakistan since the 2024 T20 World Cup, made this year’s World Cup team of the tournament with 11 wickets, and in May hit the fastest fifty in women’s T20 internationals, off 15 balls. No Pakistan woman has scored more T20I runs or taken more wickets in 2026. She’ll be only the second Pakistan player in WBBL history, after Nida Dar’s 11 games for the Thunder in WBBL|05. The catch: she’s available for the first eight games only.
Kemp returns for a second season after showing she can accelerate late in an innings, and Devine is back for her seventh summer in orange. She is the club’s second-highest run-scorer (2,021) behind Mooney (3,024) and third on the wicket-taking list with 64.
Darke’s exit is a quiet loss. She was a reliable middle-order option and moved to the Sixers on a multi-year deal, although a stress fracture means she won’t play at all this season.
Analysis
Strengths
Mooney remains the most reliable run machine the WBBL has produced. She topped the competition with 549 runs last season, opened with a century in Perth’s second game, and carried them through finals with 76 off 44 balls in the Challenger. She has made 400-plus runs in 10 of 11 seasons, and passed 386 in the other.
The spin pairing is the other pillar. King and Mills have been the Scorchers’ engine room for five seasons, and the WACA rewards bowlers who spin it hard. King has a history of defending small totals at home. In WBBL|10 she took 11 wickets at 5.36 across three games at the ground.
And the all-round mix is now genuinely deep. Devine, Kemp, Sana and Edgar can all bat and bowl, which gives Grundy options a lot of sides don’t have.
Weaknesses
The batting still leans on one player. In last year’s Challenger, Mack made 40 at the top, then no other Scorcher passed 20 once Mooney was out. That is the pattern that has to change, and Sana’s lower-order hitting is the clearest fix.
Sana’s departure after eight games is a real problem. She misses the last two regular-season matches, which could be the ones that decide a top-two spot.
The margins were thin last season too. Perth finished third with a net run rate of -0.132, the kind of figure that says they won close games rather than dominated them.
Milestones to watch
- Beth Mooney became the first player to 5,000 WBBL runs last season. Another 400 would make it 11 of 12 seasons.
- Alana King sits on 138 WBBL wickets from 134 matches. Twelve more brings up 150.
- Fatima Sana becomes the second Pakistan woman to play in the WBBL when she takes the field on Saturday.
- Sophie Devine is one wicket from 65 for the club in her seventh season in orange.
The draw
Ten regular-season matches: four at home (all at the WACA), three away and three at neutral venues in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. Times are AEDT as listed in the fixture release. Check before match day.
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Time (AEDT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 31 Oct | Melbourne Renegades (home) | WACA Ground | 7:10pm |
| Mon 2 Nov | Melbourne Stars (away) | Junction Oval | 7:10pm |
| Thu 5 Nov | Sydney Thunder (away) | Drummoyne Oval | 7:10pm |
| Sun 8 Nov | Melbourne Stars (neutral) | North Sydney Oval | 5:10pm |
| Wed 11 Nov | Sydney Thunder (home) | WACA Ground | 7:10pm |
| Sat 14 Nov | Adelaide Strikers (home) | WACA Ground | 7:10pm |
| Thu 19 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (neutral) | Allan Border Field | 3:40pm |
| Sat 21 Nov | Sydney Sixers (away) | North Sydney Oval | 3:30pm |
| Fri 27 Nov | Hobart Hurricanes (home) | WACA Ground | 9:10pm |
| Sun 29 Nov | Brisbane Heat (neutral) | Karen Rolton Oval | 12:00pm |
It opens with a Halloween night at the newly redeveloped WACA against the Renegades, and the club is chasing its all-time WBBL crowd record of 3,701. Then comes the hard bit: three games on the east coast in eight days, starting at Junction Oval on Melbourne Cup eve.
The middle stretch is where Perth should bank points. Back-to-back WACA games against the Thunder and Strikers give them home conditions while Sana is still in the side.
The run home tells the story. The final rematch with the Hurricanes in Perth, then a Sunday lunchtime game against the Heat in Adelaide, both without Sana. Bank enough wins while she’s available and the Scorchers won’t need to sweat on those.
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