BBL 2016/17: 5 key moments from the Brisbane Heat vs Perth Scorchers
A fine innings from its captain, followed by a clinical display by its bowlers helped Perth Scorchers overcome Brisbane Heat and move to the top of the table. Put into bat, Scorchers’ captain Michael Klinger led them to 156 with an innings of 81, characterised by hard running between the wickets.
Then, wicket-taking spells by its pacers upfront and miserly bowling in the middle overs by Ashton Agar and Andrew Tye defended the target successfully. Tye finished the match with a four-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, as the Scorchers registered a comfortable 27-run victory.
Klinger was adjudged the ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock.
Brief Scores: Perth Scorchers – 156/5 (Klinger 81 (54), Ian Bell 14 (15); Mitchell Swepson 2/22 (4), Mark Steketee 2/32 (4)
Brisbane Heat – 129 19.2 overs (Alex Ross 39 (40), Joe Burns 23 (23); Andrew Tye 4/22 (3.2), Mitchell Johnson 2/25 (4)
#5 Klinger leads from the front
In an innings in which the next best score was Bell’s 14, Scorchers’ captain Klinger stood out with a single-handed effort that played the decisive part in victory. Put into bat by Brisbane Heat, Scorchers lost Shaun Marsh and Sam Whiteman early in their innings. The rest of the batting too did not impress but the captain stood tall.
Facing up against a good bowling display by Heat’s bowlers, on a pitch where the ball skidded on from the surface and with long boundaries to clear, Klinger combined deft placement through the gaps with quick running between the wickets to carry the team on his shoulders.
The sheer effectiveness of his approach is underlined by the fact that only 36 of his 81 runs were scored in boundaries, but he still managed to score more than half of his team’s total at a strike rate of 150 with minimal risk.