In a remarkable story of revival in the history of the Big Bash League, Perth Scorchers have hounded out the other franchises to storm into the top the table. After bagging just one point from their first four encounters, Perth turned the tables around winning eight matches from their last nine games. After defeating Melbourne Stars in a thrilling encounter on Saturday, 23 January, Perth qualified for the playoff stages of the current Big Bash season.
In a nervy match that went till the final over, Perth successfully defended 183 runs put on board by their international recruits Jason Roy (54 off 32) and Colin Munro (46 off 30).
Speaking after the game, man of the match Roy lauded the ability of the team’s ability to come back in the press conference and spoke about how strong Perth is as a group.
“Massive turnaround. Lovely feeling having got this fifty. After the start we had. we were down in the dumps. Takes a strong group to come back. We have shown great character in the change room. We've adapted really well,” said Roy.
Andrew Tye was the pick among the bowlers for Perth Scorchers picking up two crucial wickets of Nathan Coulter-Nile, (7 off 4) and Nick Larkin (70 off 44) who was looking in ominous touch. He was ably supported by Jason Behrendorff who picked up a wicket maiden, a rarity in T20 cricket.
Barring Larkin, no other Stars’ batsmen looked in good touch and failed to provide the support Larkin needed. Glenn Maxwell’s poor patch continued with him getting dismissed for a duck after surviving three balls.
Earlier in the day, Stars inability to pick wickets at the MCG meant that they were unable to keep the run rate in check. Scoring at a steady rate of over eight, eight and a half per over, the Jason Roy-led assault took Scorchers to a comfortable 182.
This game turned out to be a big jolt to Stars’ top four push, who now struggle at the fifth place with 24 points, eight points behind the top two teams.
The Big Bash is nearing its business end and with just six group-stage matches left, Sydney Thunder and Adelaide Strikers find themselves at a good spot to seal the last two positions.
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