But Hinkley fell agonisingly short of another six next ball, caught at long-off by Jemma Barsby, then Nicola Hancock couldn't hit the boundary off the last that would have either won the match or earned a Super Over.

"I'm going to use my quote from last year because it is the exact same, that was pretty bloody special," she said at the presentation. "We called it last year. We were sitting in the changerooms, we said we're not done, we want to go back-to-back. And we've had that fight, that determination all year.

"This team is a proper team. There's no individuals, no ego. We know our role. We show up, day in, day out and it's a lot of fun playing with this team."

Speaking to Fox Cricket moments after the title was secured, Schutt admitted that Strikers' total had looked under par but that McGrath had given them belief.

"[I'm] a bit emotional to be honest. A few tears out there," she said. "We set out a bold goal last year to go back-to-back and to achieve it is amazing. Running out there, 125 didn't look good but Tahlia said it was a tricky pitch after batting for the longest. We were confident if we could bowl well we could defend it."

"I'm just overwhelmed with joy," she told reporters. "Two years in row to have the faith to bowl the last over is pretty special. For me, I love those moments, especially when there's a crowd behind me and my team are backing him. I was feeling [the pressure] from the 17th over, especially when the [power] surge was happening. Was looking at the scoreboard taking note of how many runs I needed to defend off the last and thought anything over 10 I had in the bag."

"To our girls, commiserations. I'm super proud of you all, we've worked very hard just to get to this moment," she said. "Keep your heads up, I know it hurts, but we'll be back bigger and better and stronger next year."