BBL 5 Match 22 Review: Scorchers go on top again after crushing Thunders

Perth Scorchers registered a convincing victory by 30 runs over Sydney Thunders. Timely blows from the Scorchers bowlers rattled the Thunders batsmen. They were never allowed to set the tone for the chase. Andre Russell (42 from 20 balls) was the sole batsmen who showed some muscle while batting. Shane Watson (18 from 17 balls), Kurtis Patterson (18 from 24 balls) and Ben Rohrer (14 from 12 balls) got starts but failed to utilize it. The tail-enders also were unsuccessful in doing anything surprising as the Thunders could only reach 145 after the end of 20 overs.

Jason Behrendorff (3/26) and Andrew Tye (3/22) were the top wicket takers as well as the most economical for the Scorchers. Earlier in the evening, Shaun Marsh and Michael Klinger walked out to open after Sydney Thunders won the toss and elected to bowl first. The batting duo had a dominating time do far in the tournament but not in this match as Klinger was caught leg before by Andre Rusell off just the third delivery of the match. The following over saw new batsman Marcus Harris give an easy return catch to Clint McKay.

Shaun Marsh and Cameron Bancroft batted steadily and put together a partnership of 61 runs. The partnership was brought to an end by McDonald who dismissed the well-set Marsh (28 from 22 balls). But, this breakthrough, in a way, turned to be a very useful loss for Scorchers as Aston Agar joined Bancroft and smothered the bowling attack. Both the batsmen shared a Scorchers fourth wicket record partnership of 105 runs and took the Scorchers to a highly commanding position.

The last ball of the 19th over saw the match-winning partnership end as Bancroft (72 from 53 balls ) was trapped leg before by Russell. Agar (38 from 34 balls), too, departed in the last over. But, the job was done as Scorchers posted 175/5 after the end of 20 overs. This victory has made the Perth Scorchers the top-ranked team in the points table yet again.

Brief Scores:

Perth Scorchers- 175/5 in 20 (C Bancroft 72; A Russell 2/31)

Sydney Thunder- 145/9 in 20 (A Russell 42; A Tye 3/22)