Defending champs out as paper ‘dig’ backfires after spin bowling masterclass in Strikers upset

The reigning BBL champions are gone.

They were 0-35. They had restricted the Adelaide Strikers to 155 runs, 20 fewer than the average score of the team that batted first in the past 10 games at Optus Stadium.

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Everything seemed to be pointing towards the Perth Scorchers progressing to the Challenger against the Brisbane Heat in a bid to book their spot in the final against the Sydney Sixers.

Instead, a spin bowling masterclass from Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce saw the Strikers surge to a stunning 51-run win against the odds.

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“They said T20 would be the death knell for spin bowlers, how wrong they were,” Adam Gilchrist said in commentary.

When Matt Short was dismissed for just 13 runs it looked to be a tough task for Adelaide — at least that is what the local paper, The West Australian, believed.

The paper featured a back page with a bunch of dominoes, led by Short, suggesting that once he fell the rest of the team would tumble along with him.

MATCH CENTRE: Scorchers vs Strikers scoreboard, stats

But a 56-run knock from Jake Weatherald and handy 51 runs between Ben Manenti and Henry Thorton put the Strikers in with a shot.

And then Pope and Boyce did the rest, combining for seven wickets as the Strikers had the last laugh.

“Bit of a dig at the rest of the team in the paper today,” Thomas Kelly told Fox Cricket post-game.

“Said we were a stack of dominos after Shorty. It’s beautiful.”

It wasn’t the only form of added motivation either. Strikers coach Jason Gillespie also gave his team another reason to aim up on Saturday after something on the Optus Stadium big screen caught his attention.

Mike Hussey revealed on Fox Cricket that he had gone up to Gillespie pre-game for a chat only for the Scorchers ground staff to put up a message on the screen celebrating Perth progressing through to the Challenger.

While obviously a harmless run-through, Gillespie quickly called on one of his staff members to snap a photo.

“Yeah, wasn’t happy with that when we arrived at the ground,” he told Fox Cricket.

“[I] thought, ‘Geez, they’re jumping the gun a bit here in the west. I might have got a photo to show the boys.”

The Scorchers looked to be on track early as they quickly piled on the runs with the bat in hand early, with rookie Sam Fanning making a big impression in his BBL debut.

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While eventually caught on 31 runs, Fanning smacked two fours and three sixes in a fearless first knock in the competition.

Fanning was brought in to the top of the order alongside the returning Marcus Harris, who last played for the Scorchers eight years ago.

Both sides had lost a handful of superstars from their squads, with Laurie Evans, Jamie Overton and Chris Lynn flying over to the United Arab Emirates for ILT20 commitments.

“We speak a lot about brave, team-first cricket and that’s all we ask of our players,” Scorchers coach Adam Voges said.

“He’s [Fanning] been in great form… I was really impressed with him in some of the trial games we played before the tournament.

“I think he’ll come out and take the game on.”

That proved to be an accurate prediction as Fanning confidently ramped one for an early boundary to get the scoreboard ticking over for the Scorchers.

But Adelaide’s leg spinners flipped the script in stunning fashion, securing three quick wickets to silence the crowd and put the Strikers right back in the contest.

Harris was only able to put up eight runs before being dismissed by Pope as Adelaide’s plan to prioritise spin paid dividends.

That proved true once again in the following over as a half-hearted shot from Sam Whiteman was caught by Weatherald, with Boyce getting the wicket this time.

Pope was at it again soon after as a full and straight delivery got skipper Aaron Hardie, who departed for just six runs.

If there was anyone that could help steady the ship for Perth it was Josh Inglis, who had scored 26 or more runs in five of his last seven games — including one 64-run knock.

But Boyce quickly had his second as the leg spin bowling claimed another.

The best was yet to come though as a stunning diving effort from Matt Short on his own delivery dismissed Nick Hobson for only four runs.

Ashton Agar didn’t manage any better, going for a duck after hitting one straight to mid-off, walking away before the catch had even been made.

Pope then took two more wickets as the googly got both Andrew Tye and Jason Behrendorff.

The Scorchers were still some hope with the power-hitting Cooper Connolly at the crease but Adelaide saved the best for last as James Bazley came up with a stunning individual effort on the ropes to seal the victory.

The Scorchers won the bat flip and decided to bowl first, finding early success after D’Arcy Short managed just six runs before an acrobatic catch from Behrendorff saw him walk.

The blows kept coming for Adelaide as Short went next, with Tye deceiving the competition’s most in-form player with his first delivery.

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Adam Gilchrist compared it to a “baseball pitch”, declaring: “This is as good as it gets”.

Short had been in fine form, having brought up 70 or more runs in four of his last six games for the Strikers.

It wasn’t panic stations for Adelaide yet but the Strikers needed to get a partnership going to help steady ship after losing those two crucial wickets.

Instead, the Strikers found themselves in an even deeper hole as Kelly and Harry Nielsen departed in quick succession to leave the visitors at 4-48 after nine overs.

The only positive was that Weatherald remained in the middle, having scored 47 and 80 runs in his past two games against the Thunder and Hurricanes.

Weatherald smacked Agar for 16 runs shortly over in the space of four balls to give Adelaide some form of momentum, sitting 4-69 after 11 overs.

Weatherald eventually brought up the half-century — the 15th of his BBL career — but was bowled in the 12th over by Hardie.

Hussey described it as a “hammer blow” in commentary given Adelaide was yet to take its power surge at that point.

Hardie made it a second wicket soon after when Bazley edged a perfect delivery from the Perth captain, leaving Adelaide 6-95 after 13 overs.

At that point the Strikers decided to put it all on the line and elect to take the power play and for a few overs it looked like Manenti and Thornton were starting to build something, combining for a 34-run parternship off 25 balls.

But then Connolly got his second wicket of the night as he dismissed Manenti on the first ball of the 17th over.

Connolly almost had his third of the innings when David Payne sent the ball towards Lance Morris but an uncharacteristic drop let him off the hook.

It was the final ball of the over though so there was no real damage done.

SCORCHERS XI

Marcus Harris, Sam Fanning, Sam Whiteman, Aaron Hardie (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris

STRIKERS XI

Matt Short (c), D’Arcy Short, Jake Weatherald, Thomas Kelly, Harry Nielsen (wk), Ben Manenti, James Bazley, Henry Thornton, David Payne, Cameron Boyce, Lloyd Pope

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