Perth Scorchers defended their title with a thrilling win over Brisbane Heat in the BBL 12 in front of a capacity crowd played at Optus Stadium, Perth on 4 February 2023.
Brisbane Heat captain Jimmy Person won the bat flip and decided to bat first. Joshua Brown looked in decent touch right from ball one putting pressure on Scorchers bowlers. David Payne dismissed Brown with a simple catch to Andrew Tye at mid-on. At the end field restrictions overs, Brisbane Heat made 36 for 1.
Nathan McSweeney and Heazlett steadied the ship for the Brisbane Heat team putting pressure on Scorchers bowlers taking singles and hitting boundaries keeping the momentum going. Both Brisbane Heat batters took the 2 power surge overs in the 13th over. Jason Behrendroff struck to dismiss Heazlett at the short-fine leg. Heazlett and McSweeney added 79 runs for the 2nd wicket. Behrendroff struck one more time Jimmy Person to bring back Perth Scorchers into the game.
Nathan McSweeney also perished with a simple catch to Bancroft. Max Bryant provided some impetus into the innings hitting big shots keeping the momentum going for Brisbane Heats. M Kelly got two wickets in an over dismissing Bryant and Michael Neser. Bryant and Hain added 42 runs for the 5th wicket.
Andrew Tye bowled a brilliant 20th over before Xavier Bartlett hit a six off the final delivery to help Brisbane Heat post 175 for 7.
Nick 'The Hero' Hobson.
Never paying for a beer in Perth again #BBL12 #BBLFinals pic.twitter.com/1PURp6pjSg
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) February 4, 2023
Chasing down 176 runs to win, Cameron Bancroft and Stephen Eskinzai began the innings decently as they scored 29 runs in the first four overs. Max Bryant stunned Eskinzai with a brilliant direct hit to end 32 runs opening wicket partnership.
Matthew Kuhnemann got the breakthrough in his first over getting rid of Cameron Bancroft. After some lucky moments, Aaron Hardie was brilliantly caught by Sam Heazlett to leave defending Champions in trouble. Captain Ashton Turner and Josh Inglis steadied the ship for Scorchers with the required run rate climbing.
Turner and Inglis took the power surge in the 14th over. Both batters took the advantage as Turner completed his fifty off 30 balls to keep momentum going for Scorchers. Xavier Barlett got the breakthrough dismissing Inglis with a simple catch to Heazlett to change the momentum. Turner and Inglis added 80 runs for the 4th wicket.
Captain Ashton Turner was run out with a mix-up that led Perth Scorchers into trouble. Kelly Connolly changed the momentum smashing Barlett for 18 runs in the 18th over. It was a fantastic knock by Connolly and Hobson putting on an unbeaten 40 off 16 deliveries to help Perth Scorchers win the match by 5 wickets with 3 balls to spare.
For his 53 off 32 balls, Ashton Turner was named the player of the match award.
Journey of Perth Scorchers in BBL season 12
Perth Scorchers finished top of the points table with 11 wins and 3 losses in the league stage. They qualified directly for the finals winning against Sydney Sixers on 28th January 2023.
Aaron Hardie was the top scorer for Perth Scorchers in the tournament with 434 runs from 13 matches and Josh Inglis with 405 runs from 13 games.
Andrew Tye was the pick of bowlers for Scorchers with 24 wickets from 14 matches.
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