BBL 2015: Strikers make it two upsets in as many games
The Strikers made it two victories in as many games beating the Perth Scorchers comfortably by 4 wickets away from home in Perth on Monday.
Winning the toss and opting to bat, the Scorchers had a stop-start sort of innings throughout where they never truly got going but also ensured they were never really out of the game.
They began solidly with Marsh and Klinger adding 40 runs at the end of 6 overs. However, in a surprise move, Hodge handed the ball to part-timer Travis Head who took a wicket with his very first delivery straight after the conclusion of the powerplay.
Marsh looked really solid throughout his innings of 47 runs before getting out to a well-directed bouncer by Neser.
In what came as a surprise, the spin trio of Holland, Head and Rashid spun a tight web around the Perth batsmen, ending up with cumulative figures of 9-0-58-3.
At 5-98, the Scorchers looked in all sorts of bother before captain Adam Voges stitched together two important partnerships with wicketkeeper Bancroft and Coulter-Nile as the Scorchers finished strongly posting 151 for the loss of 6 wickets on the board.
Shaun Marsh ended up as the top scorer whilst Adil Rashid was easily the pick of the bowlers with 4-0-21-2. Laughlin chipped in with two important wickets of his own to end up with figures of 3-0-20-2 which included conceding merely 4 runs of the penultimate over.
The Adelaide Strikers, on the other hand, had a thunderous start to their innings, with Ludeman smashing 4 boundaries off the very first over. Willey and Coulter-Nile got the Scorchers back into the game with two quick strikes, leaving the Strikers reeling at 2-25.
The veteran Mahela Jayawardene then combined in two short but effective partnerships first with Head and subsequently with captain Brad Hodge as the Strikers crossed the 100-run mark in the 14th over, one after Ashton Agar took a cliff-hanger of a catch to dismiss Hodge.
With Hodge back in the hut, the Scorchers sensed an opening to get back into the game but Jayawardene kept his cool and stitched yet another partnership with Alex Ross, the hero of the previous game. Ross played another eventful cameo to ensure that the Strikers got home even after Jayawardene gave away his wicket late in the game.
It was bad news for Australian fans as Nathan Coulter-Nile dislocated his shoulder on the field and may miss the Boxing Day Test Match.
For the Strikers, Jayawardene top scored with 42 runs but Alex Ross made the difference with his 38 off 29 deliveries. Willey was the best bowler on show tonight for the losing side, unleashing a plethora of variations to end up with figures of 4-0-24-2.
Brief Scores
Perth Scorchers (toss) 151/6 (Marsh 47, Laughlin 2-20) lost to Adelaide Strikers 152/6 (Jayawardene 42, Willey 2-24) by 4 wickets
Watch as we made the correct prediction for the outcome of this game here