So a thriller of a game at the Perth Stadium to solve the fixtures of the finals. Brisbane Heat will face Sydney Sixers in the qualifier on Friday (January 19), while Perth Scorchers host Adelaide Strikers in the knockout on Saturday (January 20).
For now, it's me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator, Ninaad Dixit and scorer/analyst, Raju Khariya. We will meet again in the next one. Until next time, its cheers!
Daniel Hughes (Player of the Match):"This game is right up there. It was a hell of a game. Almost 400 runs or about something, maybe just under. Hell of a game of cricket, hell of a knock from the skipper there. He was absolutely cooked at the back end there but so much of experience, just stays calm and got the job done. Very happy.
Gold Coast is basically our home ground. We have played 6 or 7 games out there. We know it quite well. Different challenge with Heat. We once played them but it got washed out at the Gabba so its going to be a different challenge and we are really looking forward to it. We are pumped."
Daniel Hughes is the player of the match.
5:49 PM IST and 20:18 Local Time: What a game we have had in Perth! A fitting contest to fix the fixtures for the BBL 13 finals. Sydney Sixers beat Perth Scorchers in a last-ball thriller by 3 wickets to seal the second place in the points table.
Perth Scorchers won the toss and opted to bat first, considering the high temperature and heat at the Optus Stadium. Openers Stephen Eskinazi and Sam Whiteman got off to a cautious start, with the former getting hit on the finger and retiring hurt in the last over of the Powerplay as well as the latter getting out in the same over of Jackson Bird (4-0-28-1). Josh Inglis (17 off 12) hit a few cracking strokes but failed to continue for long with the scorecard ready 2/52 in 7.5 overs.
Skipper Aaron Hardie supported Laurie Evans in the partnership of 85 runs and took the batting to the next level, with the latter smashing the bowlers left, right and centre. Evans even hammered Hayden Kerr (2-0-31-0) for 28 runs, including six boundaries in the second over of the Power Surge. In total, Evans clubbed 72 off 34 balls, hitting 11 fours and 3 sixes. Hardie (32 off 24) fell prey to Ben Dwarshuis in trying to up the ante from both ends, while Evans managed to squeeze another quickfire partnership with Cooper Connolly before becoming the second victim of Dwarshuis (4-0-23-2) in the slog overs.
Connolly smacked an unbeaten 37 off 18 balls and gave the much-needed impetus to the Scorchers’ innings in the end. Perth batters especially took the likings on Jack Edwards and saw him conceding 54 runs in 4 overs. Nick Hobson (8* off 4) finished things off in style with a six off the final ball to propel the total to 197/4 in 20 overs.
Chasing the massive target of 198, Sydney Sixers’ openers- Daniel Hughes and James Vince were set off to a flying start. The opening-wicket partnership saw 65 runs being scored in just over 6 overs. Vince was looking good for his 22 off 15 balls, but his innings was cut short by the opposition skipper Hardie. Hughes made his comeback a memorable one, smacking a cracking half-century.
Despite starting slow, Josh Philippe got momentum as he got set and added a good follow-up partnership of 59 runs for the 2nd wicket with Hughes. Philippe (32 off 23) lost his wicket to Jason Behrendorff in the final over of Power Surge. Moises Henriques came in at number 4, and straightaway showed his aggressive intent. Hardie, who dropped Hughes earlier, redeemed himself by removing the danger man in the 15th over. Before getting out, Hughes struck 74 runs from 43 balls, with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
Henriques kept the Sixers in the hunt with timely boundaries, but Behrendorff (4-0-35-3) bowled a superb 19th over, giving away only 4 runs and picking a couple of wickets to push the game to the final over. The penultimate over also saw a run-out to increase the tally of falling wickets to three. Perth Scorchers pulled things back nicely, with the Sixers collapsing at one end.
Hardie (2/32) bowled the final over with 13 runs to defend. Despite starting the over well, Henriques (47* off 20) slammed a maximum in the fourth ball to drop the equation down to three off two. The Sydney Sixers' captain kept his cool and finished things off with a boundary in the final over to allow a crucial win for the team.