Perth Scorchers have fallen agonisingly short in their bid to move into the top two, taken down on the last ball by the high-flying Adelaide Strikers in front of a record WACA WBBL crowd of 3424.
The Scorchers bowlers were left heartbroken in an exhilarating final over as Adelaide clawed past a stunning Perth fightback to claim a six-wicket triumph.
Katie Mack was the star of the show for the visitors, cashing in with 71 after Perth import Nat Sciver-Brunt pushed the home side to a first innings total of 165 with a half century in her first outing of the campaign.
Needing 12 runs from a tense final over, Danielle Gibson overcame running out Mack to hit a six and a four to ice the game.
“It was a funny old game, I thought we had enough runs on the board to win, we didn’t get as much as we wanted to but I thought we had enough,” Sciver-Brunt said post match.
“We probably didn’t hit the stumps enough with the ball but to take it to the last ball and still have a chance was a pretty special comeback.
“We were able to take it as deep as we could and you never know what happens in the last over.”
After an unbeaten half century on Friday, Beth Mooney was out in the first over on Sunday.
Devine (28), promoted to opening, took control of the batting innings alongside youngster Maddy Darke (31), the pair putting on 62 for the second wicket.
But they were both bowled inside two deliveries, leaving the weight on the shoulders of fresh import Sciver-Brunt.
The Englishwoman took the responsibility with relish, using power to penetrate the leg side protection as fellow English import Amy Jones used guile to craft 33 from 20 deliveries.
The Scorchers pushed Alana King up the order to double the power late but she couldn’t find her groove despite rocketing her first ball to the rope.
Scriver-Brunt posted her fifth WBBL half century to warm applause before running past one to be stumped.
A run out on the final ball saw the Scorchers post 7-165.
The Strikers made a flying start to the chase before Devine turned to herself, grabbing the breakthrough three balls into her spell.
Mack put the pressure back on the Scorchers, scoring on both sides of the wicket as Aussie bat Tahlia McGrath rode her luck.
The Strikers were well on track at 1-74 before Amy Edgar finally struck, ending McGrath’s innings on 30.
Perth squeezed in on the Strikers, slowing the boundaries to a trickle.
It left the Strikers needing 19 from the final two overs.
Mack looked set to steer the visitors to victory before she was run out by Devine attempting a desperate two.
Chloe Ainsworth was handed the tense final over but a misfield allowed the first ball to run away for four, leaving Adelaide just eight to get.
Another run out left seven needed off the last three, but Gibson levelled the scores with a towering maximum before another boundary sealed the victory for Adelaide.