{"id":391752,"date":"2026-01-04T20:39:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T20:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/391752\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T20:39:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T20:39:16","slug":"big-bash-league-perth-scorchers-move-into-second-after-defeating-adelaide-strikers-at-optus-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/391752\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Bash League: Perth Scorchers move into second after defeating Adelaide Strikers at Optus Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perth Scorchers have survived a trial by spin to move into outright second on the Big Bash table with a 33-run victory over Adelaide Strikers at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n

On a night where pace claimed just a handful of wickets, almost anyone capable of turning a cricket ball was given a turn at the crease.<\/p>\n

Adelaide bowled a remarkable 16 overs of spin as Lloyd Pope spearheaded a four-strong spin attack, claiming 4-23, to restrict an import-less home side to 8-153.<\/p>\n

Missing stars Finn Allen and Laurie Evans to injuries, the Scorchers entered the bowling innings on the ropes after a collapse of 5-15 in 21 deliveries killed their hopes of a big first-innings total.<\/p>\n

But, as the men in orange have throughout their history, they found a way to turn the screws in the field, skipper Ashton Turner changing the game in a single over of part-time off-spin.<\/p>\n

His two wickets in three bowls on top of scoring 28 runs with a strike rate of 200 proved the difference.<\/p>\n

Joel Paris ended his 50th Big Bash appearance in style, claiming 3-22, as the Scorchers gave 37,643 fans their fourth victory of the season.<\/p>\n

However, the swing-bowling veteran revealed he wasn\u2019t sure he\u2019d even get to bowl more than one over with the dominance spin held over the contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was going to bowl the second (over),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then after that, not sure. Once Cooper (Connolly) and (Ashton Agar) and (Turner) settled in I thought it was feet up for the rest of the night and spin to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they got us going and the rest of the pace (bowlers) just contributed well and jumped on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

A watchful Power Play batting first bore fruit in the fourth over as Sam Fanning freed the arms.<\/p>\n

\"TabraizCamera IconTabraiz Shamsi of the Strikers celebrates the wicket of Mitch Marsh. Credit: Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Targeting the straight boundaries, the left-armer took Liam Scott\u2019s second over for 16 to get his first outing of the campaign off to a flyer.<\/p>\n

Adelaide turned to spin as soon as the fielding restrictions lifted, with Pope, debutant Tabraiz Shamsi, Matt Short and Jerriss Wadia all given an over.<\/p>\n

However, the Scorchers remained content to milk the tweakers, the openers building a 72-run partnership before Mitch Marsh fell to Shamsi, representing his 17th T20 franchise in his 10th different competition, caught at deep mid-on for 37.<\/p>\n

The platform copped a wobble as Connolly\u2019s innings was ended before it got started, slicing a cut shot to point for a duck to give the South African spinner the first two scalps.<\/p>\n

The collapse was on as Fanning repeated the dismissal against Pope next over, the Scorchers losing 3-2 inside seven deliveries.<\/p>\n

The in-form Aaron Hardie was bamboozled by a Pope wrong-un for nine off 10, bringing Perth debutant Joel Curtis to the crease to partner skipper Turner with his side in trouble.<\/p>\n

But after getting his first-ever Big Bash run, the keeper edged Pope to his opposite number second ball attempting to cut, reducing Perth to 5-87.<\/p>\n

Down to his last recognised batsman, Turner pulled the trigger on the Power Surge in the 15th over, and promptly dismantled Shamsi, hitting his first four deliveries for boundaries.<\/p>\n

But with 18 already off the over, the captain went one too many last ball as the Scorchers lost their first wicket in the Surge for the season, Turner departing for 28, chunking a slog-sweep to mid-wicket.<\/p>\n

\"AshtonCamera IconAshton Turner of the Scorchers bats. Credit: Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hobson couldn\u2019t get past single figures, but two maximums from Paris in the final over pushed the Scorchers to 8-153.<\/p>\n

Connolly had forgotten all about his duck as he celebrated taking the wicket of Chris Lynn in the first over of the chase.<\/p>\n

But the Scorchers\u2019 first two overs of pace went for 10 and 11 respectively, while Agar\u2019s first also got met with double figures by a belligerent Short.<\/p>\n

It forced some quick thinking from Turner, who took the responsibility upon himself, yet again proving himself a game-changer.<\/p>\n

He had opposition skipper Short caught at long off for 31 before spearing one straight through Jason Sangha for a two-ball duck.<\/p>\n

The Strikers were in a spin as Agar started his second over by bowling Mackenzie Harvey, the orange army in full voice as the visitors crumbled to 4-48.<\/p>\n

Scott and Harry Manenti steadied, Adelaide narrowly ahead of the curve after 11 overs, needing 72 from 54 with Agar bowled out.<\/p>\n

However, it was the quicks that troubled Manenti, and he eventually chipped one to Turner at mid-off for 10 off 19, Paris credited with the first wicket to pace in the game\u2019s 33rd over.<\/p>\n

\"JoelCamera IconJoel Paris of the Scorchers celebrates the wicket of Luke Wood. Credit: Paul Kane\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hardie nabbed the second, Scott\u2019s leading edge going high for a simple catch to Marsh.<\/p>\n

Jamie Overton, who didn\u2019t get to bowl an over despite entering the clash as the Striker\u2019s joint leading wicket-taker, called for the Surge to attempt a rescue, but the wickets continued to tumble as Adelaide fell well short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Perth Scorchers have survived a trial by spin to move into outright second on the Big Bash table…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,22249,740,60180,588,85],"class_list":["post-391752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-big-bash-league","tag-cricket","tag-perth-scorchers","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}