NICK FRIEND: Introduced to The Hundred on the ground where Shane Warne, her hero, introduced himself to English audiences, King took a match-defining hat-trick to drag Trent Rockets to victory
Seeking to improve on finishing second-bottom in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, Trent Rockets – without Meg Lanning and Nat Sciver – could have been forgiven for cursing their misfortune.
There aren't better players in the world at what they do, so how to replace them was almost not a question worth considering for Salliann Beams. Kim Garth claimed Lanning's place in the squad. Sciver missed this heavy, one-sided defeat for personal reasons but is expected back on Monday. Elyse Villani took over the captaincy in her absence.
But by the end of a streetwise, impressive victory, the focus had spun to another Australian, Alana King, who this time a year ago – before her international debut and ahead of an excellent Women's Big Bash campaign – might not have commanded a deal nor been known to many fans outside of her homeland. In the interim, she has become a fixture in Australia's side and is more than halfway already to 50 international wickets. There might not be a better leg-spinner in the women's game right now.
Introduced to The Hundred on the ground where Shane Warne, her hero, introduced himself to English audiences, she took a match-defining hat-trick – the first in the women's competition – having done much of the legwork earlier in her spell to squeeze Manchester Originals, who seemed to have gone some way to winning the game in its first half only to be suffocated by King's mastery.
"He was the front and centre on my screen when I was growing up," she said shortly after Warne's death. "I had a couple of sessions with him as a youngster at a clinic, and his words to me still echo to this day: 'Just give it a rip.'"
Of her victims – Deandra Dottin, Cordelia Griffith, Sophie Ecclestone and Kate Cross – the three international cricketers among that quartet all fell without scoring, facing just four balls between them. But for a missing review, there would have been a fifth.
King ended her Hundred debut with four wickets, two sixes and a catch (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
She defeated all four with drift rather than spin off the surface, having earlier smote two sizeable sixes over the legside, before ending her day's work with a fine diving catch running in from the legside boundary. "I hope he's looking down and is pretty proud that I've spun a few today," she said afterwards, reflecting on Warne's legacy at Old Trafford.
It was never in doubt that a high-class leg-spinner would find success against players facing her for the first time, though perhaps the extent of her impact on her competition bow will have come as a surprise.
But with Rockets missing the two players on whom they would have hung their pre-tournament hats, her starring role spoke volumes not only for her character but also her progression over a two-year period that has seen her become a leading light of the WBBL and more recently an international across all three formats.
The beauty of Sciver, England's Commonwealth Games skipper, is that she adds so much: a primary bowling option and one of the most destructive batters in the women's game. Without her, Trent somehow looked light in both departments, bailed out initially by a sensible, no-frills knock from Abi Freeborn picked out by Villani at the post-match presentation for its resilience, all the more important without the irreplicable guarantee of Lanning's runs.
Her withdrawal has been treated with an appropriately understanding response: a reminder that even leading an all-conquering team doesn't make you immune to needing a break. She will return when the time is right for her, but that won't be soon enough for this year's competition.
Rockets' statement wished her "all the best" and their "total support", tinged with the admission that they were "naturally disappointed" to be without not only a brilliant cricketer but also a leader who has played such a pivotal role in constructing the culture for a winning machine.
It has been quite a month for King (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Without both world stars, Rockets had to find a different way to win. Overnight – from wildcard to captain – Villani has become a vital component: like Molly Strano, who is representing Southern Brave, she is mostly here on the strength of her domestic feats, and it is a nod to the strength of Australia's infrastructure that a player without an international cap since 2019 is still considered worthy of a wildcard slot. Only three players – Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine – have more Women's Big Bash runs across their careers.
In all likelihood, she wouldn't have started the tournament in Rockets' first-choice line-up had circumstances not played out in this manner, with Mignon du Preez, the South African, signed as part of the initial tranche of overseas players and therefore likely to have had the first go.
That was never the case with King, however, whose development – for similar reasons to Villani and Strano – is yet another a feather in the cap for the system in Australia: a player eight months ago uncapped now stamping her authority on an overseas domestic competition.
"Pretty special," she smiled at the end.
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