Is there any better way to welcome 2017 than with a big 50-run victory to the Perth Scorchers?? I don’t think so!
The Perth Scorchers return to the top of the KFC BBL table after an awesome 50-run victory over the Sydney Thunder. #TheFurnace was a sea of orange on Sunday night, with an attendance total of 20,220 passionate supporters. The people, the mascots, the dancers, the flames/fireworks, I almost forgot how great it is to be at a BBL match! So much excitement, on and off the field!
Thunder skipper Shane Watson won the toss and elected to bowl. The Scorchers got off to a shakey start with the early loss of Shaun Marsh, with the home side on 1-4. However, Michael Klinger (38 off 32 balls) kept his cool and again showed his experience with the bat and he and Ian Bell (45 off 38) did well to finish on an 85 run partnership. Mitch Marsh earned himself Player of the Match with an unbeaten 44 off 27 balls, hitting three sixes, and the Scorchers finished their innings with a total of 4-177.
The Thunder’s opening batsmen Ryan Gibson and Kurtis Patterson did not have a nice time with Scorchers import David Willey, who dismissed both batsmen for a combined 14 runs. The onslaught continued with the next five Sydney batsmen dismissed for 48 runs, the visitors on 6-50 in the 11th over. Pat Cummins was the only Thunder player to manage more than 16 runs, and his dismissal was possibly the highlight of the night! He was run out by an unbelievable 25 metre throw from Scorchers wicketkeeper Sam Whiteman.
See the Whiteman magic below:
The dismissal of Cummins was an additional nail in the coffin for the Thunder, with the defending champs finishing on 8-127, defeated by 50 runs.
The victory was an all-round effort by the Scorchers however, a hamstring injury to skipper Adam Voges did put a little bit of a dampener on the win. Voges was forced to retire hurt on 3 runs. There is no word yet on the severity of his injury but my fingers are crossed for a speedy recovery!
Check out the match highlights below:
The Perth Scorchers have now won three of their four matches and will take on the Brisbane Heat at #TheFurnace on January 5.
Show your support for the team at @ScorchersBBL #MadeTough
