Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh reach WBBL playoffs

Kent’s Charlotte Edwards and Laura Marsh celebrated as they reached the Women’s Big Bash League playoffs with back-to-back wins.

Edwards smashed 63 off 51 balls in Sunday’s win against Melbourne Renegades as the Kent and England captain led from the front after the Scorchers restricted the Renegades to 108 for eight for sealing a nine-wicket win.

On Saturday, Elyse Vllani’s 72 helped the Scorchers to another nine-wicket win against the Renegades at the Adelaide Oval.

The Scorchers' comprehensive wins clinched a semi-final against Sydney Thunder on Thursday.

“It was a bit of a roller-coaster for us all watching the games in the morning but it was pretty straight forward by the afternoon we knew we needed to win so we’re relieved and looking forward to Thursday.

Edwards is now the second top-scorer in WBBL and said: “We never gave up. We knew it was a close competition, teams have beaten each other, and we knew we needed a few results to go our way in the last couple of weeks but they did.

“We just kept doing what we could do and that’s win games of cricket and by doing that, we’ve just pipped fourth place which is fantastic.

“Now it’s just win or lose so it’s a fantastic position to be in. I really feel as though in the last couple of games we’re really starting to click, we’re starting to know what we’re about and ultimately our batters are coming to form.

“I’m delighted it’s at Adelaide, and I think the girls are as well – we like Adelaide.

“We’ve played a lot there in the BBL so I think it’s all set up really nicely; it’s one of the best grounds in the world so hopefully we can put in a performance to back that up.”

Sydney Sixers completed a fantastic comeback after losing their first six matches to win eight on the spin as the third-ranked side in the tournament.

Laura Marsh did not play in either of the final two matches but Kent’s 2015 overseas player Kara Sutherland did feature.

The Sixers take on Hobart Hurricanes, skippered by England vice-captain Heather Knight on Friday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.