The Adelaide Strikers have defeated the Perth Scorchers by 1 run with 1 ball remaining in their innings at the WACA on Monday night.
Both sides batted well smashing big sixes to all parts of the ground. Michael Klinger was the standout for the Scorchers with 49(33) while veteran Brad Hodge hit a valuable 42(36) against some good bowling.
Kane Richardson backed up a good performance against the Melbourne Stars last Thursday with 3/31 from his 4 overs including the wicket of danger-man Klinger. Captain Johan Botha rotated his bowlers well making it consistently hard for the batsmen to settle.
Scorcher Jason Behrendorff’s 4/22 from 4 overs was not enough to hold out the Strikers batsmen. He removed both openers and bowled the dangerous Kieron Pollard for 15(11), but the Strikers persisted throughout the remaining overs.
No other Striker batsman scored over 17 emphasising the importance of Hodge’s knock and the tight Scorchers bowling attack.
The run chase came down to the last over and the Strikers had their final two batsmen at the crease. Adam Zampa and Ben Laughlin looked nervous against the confident bowling of Yasir Arafat, but both were prepared to hit out or get out in search of victory.
Arafat bowled with dependable accuracy, placing the first three balls on the same spot via in-swinging yorkers with the batsmen only able to squeeze out 1 run.
Adam Zampa swung hard at the fourth ball predicting a similar delivery from Arafat who bowled a bit shorter and was dispatched over the square leg boundary for a huge six. The pressure showed as Arafat’s next delivery was a slow full-toss that was popped to fine leg for the winning single.
Perth will be disappointed to lose a game that was well within their grasp and will be looking to bounce back against the Melbourne Renegades at home on Boxing Day. Adelaide begin their BBL04 campaign with 2 wins from two games. They enjoy a week break and will host the Hobart Hurricanes on New Years Eve.
