Newcastle spin sensation Sam Bates is aiming to finish the WBBL 2021 season on a high with the Sydney Thunder.
Although the 2020 champions appear unlikely to defend their title this year, the slow left-arm orthodox bowler believes all is not lost in the remaining fixtures.
In fact, the women in chartreuse (yellow-green) caused a boil-over at the weekend by knocking over Sydney rivals, the Sixers, by six wickets with 28 balls to spare.
“It’s always good to beat them,” Bates said.
“I think every time we play the Sixers it feels like a final.
“They’ve had a few wins on us in the past.
“So, it was nice to get one up on them.
“Hopefully, that victory will kick-start the back end of the season.”
The Thunder entered WBBL 2021 on a high, after crushing the Melbourne Stars by seven wickets in the 2020 decider.
However, the loss of inspirational skipper Rachael Haynes, and the departures of international stars Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont and Shabnim Ismail, seems to have upset the applecart somewhat.
Then, throw in a little thing like a pandemic.
“There’s no denying it, we’ve been inconsistent,” said Bates, who’ll become the most capped Thunder player this week.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but we haven’t had the best preparation compared to other sides.
“Most of the squad hails from NSW, Victoria or the ACT, which spent the majority of the year in lockdown.
“We didn’t have practice matches, for example.
“So, we’ve been playing catch-up.
“Also, we have played all our games out of NSW, which is challenging.
“It’s very different from last season.
“Mathematically, we can still make the semis.
“But, the goal is to get a couple more wins on the board.”
The Thunder faces the front-running Melbourne Renegades at Mackay on Wednesday 17 November, from 7.05pm, needing another triumph to stay in the premiership race.
“It will be a good match,” Bates said.
“The Renegades got off to a flyer in 2021.
“However, we’re now coming off a win with a bit of momentum, while they’ve had about nine days off.
“We need to start strongly, no matter if we bat or bowl first.”
As for her own form, Bates admits she’s struggled, claiming just six scalps.
“I haven’t adapted to the conditions in the first part of the season as I did last year,” she said.
“It’s been a big learning curve for me.
“Not having Rachael there is challenging, too.
“I’ve had to step up and take on more of a bigger role.
“But, I think it all clicked the other day against the Sixers.
“So, I’m hoping I can do a bit more for the side in the run home.”
Despite hailing from the Hunter, Bates now plies her trade in Tasmania – via in the Thunder in the WBBL.
“I love it down there,” she said.
“However, it hasn’t been ideal with the border closures.
“I guess that’s one of the reasons I wanted to stay with the Thunder – it’s nice to see family and friends when the WBBL is on.”
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