Scorchers overcome raging turner to take second spot

The Perth Scorchers returned to the BBL's top two with the seven-wicket win on Monday night, chasing down the Sydney Thunder's 8-137 at the Sydney Showgrounds with five balls to spare.

The result leaves the Thunder needing results to fall in their favour to reach the finals, sitting in seventh on the ladder with three games to play.

But the major talking point remained the pitch which spun heavily from the outset, as Ashton Agar took 2-6 from four overs and Cooper Connolly 3-25 from his four.

Thunder spinner Tanveer Sangha also went for 14 from his four overs, and Chris Green 1-22 from 3.1.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting lashed the Showground wicket as "substandard".

Data from the Seven network showed an average spin of 3.9 degrees in the Scorchers' bowling innings, well in excess of the 2.2-degree average across the BBL.

"We shouldn't be seeing balls react like that in the BBL," Ponting said in Channel 7's commentary. 

"Yes, he has bowled beautifully, but you shouldn't be able to turn the ball like that."

Scorchers opener Sam Whiteman also remarked it "looked like Chennai", with Agar's figures the second-most economical in BBL history.

So slow did things move in the Thunder innings, the hosts scored only 19 runs in a six-over period late in the innings in front of a crowd of 8672.

Alex Hales played a lone hand for the Thunder, whacking five sixes in his 72 from 55 balls.

But he was also close to the biggest villain in the Thunder's innings, with three men run out at the other end during his stay at the crease.

Included in those was Test hopeful Cameron Bancroft, who struggled to find rhythm in his innings of 12 off 19 balls.

In reply, Englishman Zak Crawley hit 58 from 56 balls to steer the Scorchers home but left Josh Inglis to ice the game with a couple of sixes at the death. 

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

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