Perth Scorchers defeated the star-studded Sydney Sixers side in the qualifier of the Big Bash League to qualify for the final of the tournament. They defended the target of 148 runs as the Sixers, with Babar Azam and Steve Smith in the team, got bowled out for just 99 runs.
Perth Scorchers stunned the star-studded Sydney Sixers side with Babar Azam, Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith in the qualifier clash of the Big Bash League (BBL) to qualify for the final of the tournament. They defended 147 runs comfortably to win by a huge margin of 48 runs, even as Steve Smith fought a lone battle for the Sixers. Babar’s travails in the tournament continued as he bagged a second-ball duck, his 24th in T20 cricket.
Meanwhile, Perth Scorchers qualified for their 9th final in T20 cricket, surpassing the Mumbai Indians of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the list of teams to qualify for the most finals in the shortest format of the game. Chennai Super Kings are on top of this list with 12 appearances in T20 finals, while Scorchers will be the joint fifth-highest.
Teams to play most T20 finals
Chennai Super Kings – 12 finals
Eagles – 11 finals
Titans – 11 finals
Pakistan – 10 finals
Amazon – 9 finals
Lions – 9 finals
S Stallions – 9 finals
Scorchers – 9 finals (will play on Jan 25)
What happened in the match?
As far as the match is concerned,ย Mahli Beardman was the star for the Scorchers as he picked up three wickets for just 20 runs in three overs. He also dismissed Steve Smith, who has been in excellent touch in the ongoing BBL season. He was the top scorer for the Sixers, scoring 37 runs off 24 balls while opening the innings and it was his wicket in the 11th over that ended the hopes for his side in the run chase.
Apart from Smith, none of the Sixers batters could cross the 15-run mark as they eventually got bowled out for just 99 runs in 15 overs, to lose the match by 48 runs.
Earlier, Finn Allen smashed 49 runs off just 30 balls to get the Scorchers off to a flyer. Even as other batters struggled, the Scorchers crawled their way to 147 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs which eventually proved to be more than enough.