Phoebe Litchfield has produced one of her most mature innings yet, steering the Sydney Thunder to a tense win over Hobart and to within one match of a WBBL grand final.
With the Thunder chasing 127 for victory in the knockout final, Litchfield played with maturity well beyond her 21 years to guide the Thunder to victory with one over and six wickets to spare.
On a difficult Drummoyne wicket, the Thunder fell behind the asking rate multiple times including needing 26 from the final three overs.
But on each occasion Litchfield broke the tension with a boundary, before combining with Anika Learoyd to take 16 runs off the 18th over from Heather Graham.
Litchfield then pulled the first ball of Nicola Carey's next over for six, and while she was bowled soon after, her 46 from 36 balls meant the game was effectively won.
Making matters even worse for Hobart Lizelle Lee had a stumping chance to remove Litchfield on 23, when the Thunder needed 42 from 32 balls.
"I just thought I need to win the game now ... once I got a life like that," Litchfield said.
"I was already thinking 'win the game'. But it reiterates that, and just to make myself clear and reset."
Litchfield's runs came in one of the most patient knocks of the young Thunder captain's career, showing off a more composed side to the usually inventive stroke-maker.
Learoyd played a supporting hand with an unbeaten 23 from 24, while Chamari Athapaththu hit 31 up top after also taking two wickets with the ball.
The victory means the Thunder will play Brisbane in Friday night's Challenger, with the winner of that to face the Melbourne Renegades in Sunday's final at the MCG.
The Thunder had been the leading team of the WBBL over the opening two-thirds of the season, before letting top spot and direct qualification for a home final slip late.
But Litchfield is now adamant that can work in their favour, with the team finding a way forward without English veteran Heather Knight following her exit for international duties.
"If you're looking at the results it was a big hole to fill," Litchfield said.
"We have taken our time to repair that hole, but others are stepping up.
"The more games we play, the better we get. We've seen that."
For Hobart, they remain winless in all finals after four attempts.
After Athapaththu's 2-24 left them reeling at 4-47 at the 10-over mark on Wednesday, Elyse Villani gave the Hurricanes hope with an unbeaten 49.
Yet while Molly Strano's 1-8 from four overs and Amy Smith's 1-17 from three threatened to strangle the Thunder, Hobart's 6-126 was always going to prove tough to defend.
