Table of Contents
Sydney Thunder comprehensively defeated Perth Scorchers by 7 wickets in the 12th match of the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Tuesday.
Chasing 153, Thunder started terribly after they lost opening batsman Alex Hales for a golden duck. Jason Behrendorff cleaned up Hales on the final delivery of the first over.
Opener Usman Khawaja (21) was looking settled and in good touch after he scored three boundaries, but Aaron Hardie dismissed him in the seventh over to reduce Thunder at 34/2.
Then, captain Callum Ferguson and middle-order batsman Oliver Davies steadied the ship by adding a crucial stand of 75 runs for the third wicket. Ferguson reached his half-century and both the batsmen were looking set to cruise through. However, in the 14th over of Thunder’s chase, Fawad Ahmed provided the breakthrough by removing Davies (36).
Ferguson (61 not out), on the other hand, kept on tickling the scoreboard and formed an unbeaten 47-runs partnership for the fourth wicket with another experienced customer Ben Cutting (29 not out). The duo helped Thunder to chase down the target in 19.3 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Mitchell Marsh guides Scorchers to 152/5
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh took Scorchers out of early troubles and guided them to a competitive total of 152/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Marsh remained unbeaten on 52 off 41 deliveries laced up with one four and three sixes.
Scorchers were 91/5 when Marsh and Cameron Bancroft took charge and took their team’s total to beyond 150. Bancroft also went unbeaten on 34 off 26 balls with the help of two boundaries.
Apart from Marsh and Bancroft, skipper Ashton Turner and opener Colin Munro chipped in with 23 and 25 respectively.
For Thunder, Adam Milne was the least expensive bowler after he conceded only 17 runs in his quota of 4 overs. However, the Kiwi cricketer went wicketless. Cutting shined with the white leather too as he gave away 16 runs in 3 overs while picking a wicket as well.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Ollie Davies 😍#supercoach
— Tim Michell (@tim_michell) December 22, 2020
The KFC Player of the Match is the evergreen Callum Ferguson! @KFCAustralia | #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/SMrtcn6SCN
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 22, 2020
Congratulations Sydney Thunder for winning today's match! pic.twitter.com/lso0a4LYTO
— Nila abbott (@Nilaabbott10) December 22, 2020
Oh dear 🙈🙈 DRS please 🙏🏽 #BBL10
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) December 22, 2020
Mitch Marsh's fifty wasn't enough for Perth Scorchers as Sydney Thunder chase the set target in today's #BBL10 encounter. #OrangeArmy #KeepRising https://t.co/sT1Z5zed8d pic.twitter.com/vieR5tVeTo
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) December 22, 2020
Sydney Thunder now up to about a 1 in 8 chance of winning #BBL10. The Scorchers are now down to less than 1 in 50…
— claire 🌧️ ⚧ (@fuzzybluerain) December 22, 2020
Perhaps spend less money on fireworks, bright lights and dancing people and invest in the DRS in the BBL. If the competition wants to be taken seriously, as it should, then the game needs to take itself seriously. #BBL10
— Adam White (@White_Adam) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/Rafroz17/status/1341348574936748034
Yet another convincing win for the @ThunderBBL tonight, Callum Ferguson with yet another special innings against the @ScorchersBBL who just don't seem to have anything to combat him, let alone help themselves with their performance with bat and ball. #BBL10 #BBL
— Trystan Spooner (@TrystanSpooner) December 22, 2020
Callum Ferguson just delivers & keeps on delivering #dramalovescallum#mrconsistent
— Johnathan Drama Esq (@jdrama68) December 22, 2020
Terrible terrible umpiring, BBL has everything which is not needed for a league but they don't have DRS.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 22, 2020
If only Callum Ferguson didn’t do his knee all those years ago. Such an elegant batsmen. All the shots too. #BBL10
— BigNoseStu (@BigNoseStu) December 22, 2020
https://twitter.com/GaussTheGreat/status/1341331497165357056
