As the old adage goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. That statement has certainly rung true for Perth Scorchers for the last few seasons, and it’s starting to ring true this year as well. With this latest defeat to Sydney Thunder, they find themselves in 7th place on the table, and that on the back of a No Result. That being said, full credit to Sydney Thunder for closing out an important match in style. Fore more details, here are 5 talking points from Perth Scorchers vs Sydney Thunder.
1. When will Josh Inglis finally wake up this year?
Twenty runs from 3 games doesn’t look good in the records of any batsman above the tail, and for an opener, it’s absolutely awful. Every player has poor runs of form, and sometimes they repay the faith of their coaches by having a good game after a series of failures, but one has to wonder when the Scorchers will ask Inglis to step down. His potential replacement Sam Whiteman isn’t exactly a stellar batsman, but he could bat lower down the order and someone in better form could fill Inglis’ spot. If it keeps going this way, it’s only a matter of time before such drastic measures are taken.
2. The perils of a slow start
Losing early wickets is difficult, and if that’s paired up with a slow run rate, things become twice as bad. As slowly and carefully as Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Bancroft played, they still did a fantastic job considering the situation the team was in. Props also to Scorchers captain Ashton Turner, who played a nifty little knock to improve the team’s run rate. With 97 off the last 10 overs, PS improved their situation, but it still wasn’t enough to give them a winning total.
3. Miserly bowlers
Part of the Scorchers’ misery was brought on by the economical bowling of a few of the Thunder bowlers. Adam Milne was the most economical of the lot, giving away only 17 from his 4 overs despite not claiming a wicket. Next up was Ben Cutting with his 16 for 1 off 3 (it’s sad that he wasn’t given a fourth), and even Nathan McAndrew did well despite giving away 29 for 1 from his 4.
4. Alex Hales’ lack of form
Hales may have had a good start to the tournament with a strong 46, but like Josh Inglis on the Scorchers, he isn’t in the best of form. That 46 was his only 30+ score in his last 10 innings, and if this form continues, ST will have to find a replacement. Two ducks from an opener in as many matches is an unquestionable red flag, and although they got away this time around, they might not next time.
5. Sydney Thunder’s chase
Considering the fact that they also started very, very slowly, ST had a lot of catching up to do. Callum Ferguon was solid, but way too slow with his 53-ball-61. It was up to Oliver Davis and Ben Cutting to speed things up, and they did a solid job with 36 off 22 and 29 off 16 respectively. Thunder were also helped along by a sizable 9 extras by the Scorchers bowlers - none of whom were convincingly good.
What’s next for these two teams?
Desperate for a win, the Scorchers will face another desperate team in Adelaide Strikers. The match takes place at the Adelaide Oval at 1:45PM IST on Monday, December 28.
On a high with both the win and the Bash Boost point lifting them to fourth place, Thunder will get ready to lock horns with a low-on-morale Melbourne Renegades. The Manuka Oval in Canberra will host that match, which starts at 12:40PM IST on Saturday, December 26.
How our predictions went
Our prediction for the toss was wrong, but the one for the winner was absolutely spot on.
Among other predictions, Mitchell Marsh both got a 50 and was the top scorer for the Scorchers, and Daniel Sams was tied as the highest wicket-taker. Join us next time when we review the BBL match between Brisbane Heat and Adelaide Strikers!
