By Justin Chadwick
Ashton Turner has produced a memorable captain’s knock as the Perth Scorchers overcame a devastating burst from Sean Abbott to book their spot in the BBL grand final with a seven-wicket triumph over the Sydney Sixers.
In reply to the Sixers’ modest 8-151 in ‘The Qualifier’ on Saturday, the Scorchers were in all sorts of trouble at 3-22 after four overs.
Scorchers’ Ashton Turner plays a shot against the Sydney Sixers at Optus Stadium.Credit:Getty
Abbott had figures of 3-8 at that point after removing Stephen Eskinazi (four), Aaron Hardie (nine) and Josh Inglis (0) cheaply.
But a mature partnership between Turner (84 not out off 47 balls) and Cameron Bancroft (53 not out off 45 balls) turned the match the Scorchers’ way, with the home side reaching the victory target with nine balls to spare in front of 41,126 fans.
The result means the Scorchers will host the grand final next Saturday, while the Sixers have been thrust into ‘The Challenger’ against the winner of the Renegades-Heat clash.
“It was a bit of a clinic from those two tonight,” Abbott said of Turner and Bancroft.
“We gave them a couple of opportunities. We didn’t field anywhere near our best. We let them back in the game and then they just took it from there.”
Steve Smith of the Sixers plays a pull shot.Credit:Getty
Turner was the key figure in Saturday’s match, cracking nine fours and one six to light up the stadium.
Earlier, Steve Smith failed to make the most of a golden reprieve but Moises Henriques was able to cash in as the Sixers recovered from a shaky start to reach a respectable total.
Scorchers allrounder Aaron Hardie dropped a simple chance at mid-off when Smith was on just 12.
The former Test captain entered the match having blasted scores of 36, 101, 125 not out and 66 in his past four innings, and Hardie would have been fearful his dropped catch would cost the Scorchers dearly.
But English paceman David Payne, who was almost ruled out due to illness, sent Smith packing for 18 with a spectacular diving catch off his own bowling.
Under normal circumstances, Payne would have been mobbed by his Scorchers teammates due to the significance of the wicket and the dazzling nature of the catch.
But with Payne battling sickness and quarantined from the rest of the group before the match, the congratulations were restricted to an elbow-to-elbow touch.
Another Scorchers blunder in the field did come back to haunt them.
This time AJ Tye was the culprit, with the cult hero dropping a simple chance at backward point when Henriques was on 18.
Henriques went on to make 58 off 43 balls, combining well with Jordan Silk (47 not out off 34 balls) to help the Sixers recover from a shaky start and reach a respectable total.
Payne finished with figures of 3-33 from his four overs, including the key scalps of Smith and Henriques.
Jason Behrendorff snared 2-17 from his four overs in a stand-out display.
Turner praised Payne’s effort to play through his illness.
“He’s had a pretty rough day,” Turner said.
“Sometimes when you’re crook, getting out of bed can be a challenge.
“But once the big lights are on and 41,000 people are cheering for us, and the adrenaline is going, we were able to see tonight he performed how we expect him to perform.
“He’s been such a valuable inclusion into our squad. Thankfully now he’s got a couple of days to rest up.”
AAP
