Perth Scorchers had yet another dominant outing with both batting and fielding as they chased 152 of the Sydney Sixers comfortably and kept their top spot intact.
Scorchers’ skipper Ashton Turner played his best knock of the BBL|11 so far.
He played a knock of 69 off 41 balls as the Perth Scorchers needed 17 runs for victory but got out in the 16th over.
But, Aaron Hardie kept cool and calm under the circumstances and Perth cruised to a five-wicket victory over the Sixers.
Innings story of the Sydney Sixers
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sydney Sixers were without the services of their captain Moises Henriques and star all-rounder Sean Abbott as both have contracted COVID-19 and are isolating. Steve O’Keefe also didn’t participate because of a finger injury.
Josh Philippe (32) and Justin Avendano started things for the Sixers and put a 56-run stand between them but both became the victims of Scorchers’ spinner Ashton Agar in his consecutive deliveries.
Avendano, who had also played for the COVID-hit Melbourne Stars, became the first player to play for two men’s BBL clubs. For the Stars, he notched his highest score of the tournament 23 (22), which also included a huge six off Agar.
Sixers’ next three batters, Jack Edwards (8), stand-in skipper Daniel Hughes, and Jordan Silk (26) tried to gain some momentum for their team but Agar (2-23 from 4) and Peter Hatzoglou (1-21 from 3) kept the run-flow in check and they made well use of the pitch.
Only 34 runs had been added to the Sixers’ total when Hughes broke the shackles by hitting the first boundary in 47 balls that was a six in the 15th over.
The Power Surge also went against the Sixers as it resulted in the loss of Hughes’ (24) wicket, who was caught by Agar on point.
Dan Christian, the experienced Sixers batter, played a cameo knock of 35 from 20 balls that took their team score to 151/4 in their 20 overs.
Innings story of the Perth Scorchers
The Scorchers, in reply, tottered a bit early as they lost both their openers, Kurtis Patterson and Cameron Bancroft to Ben Dwarshuis when their scoreboard read 17.
Scorchers also suffered the COVID impact as New Zealander Colin Munro and paceman Jason Behrendorff were ruled out of the game.
But, Ben Dwarshuis couldn’t get his hat-trick for the Sixers in the BBL.
Then Ashton Turner, together with Aaron Hardie (35) notched up a 91-run stand as they kept the chase going for their team.
Turner also broke his record of the previous best score of 28 by scoring 69 in this match.
Scorchers sit pretty at the top of the table, while the Sixers remain at third and four points behind Sydney Thunder who have won all past five games.
Scorchers’ next task is against Melbourne Stars in Geelong while for the Sixers, it is the Melbourne Renegades at the same venue at night.
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