Superb Scorchers survive top Billings to win in the west

The match in a tweet: Four in a row! Scorchers get home in the west despite Thunder's top Billings #BBL10

The scorecard: Perth Scorchers 6-185 (Munro 50, Turner 31; Doggett 4-22) beat Sydney Thunder 168 (Billings 83, Cutting 31; Richardson 4-24) by 17 runs

The points: Scorchers 3, Thunder 1

The hero: Jhye Richardson's feats with both bat and ball were vital in the Scorchers emerging victorious. First he whacked a quick-fire – and highly impressive – 20no from eight balls (shoutout here to Ashton Turner and Aaron Hardie, who also made whirlwind cameos), and then, with Usman Khawaja firing, the right-armer induced a skied miscue from the Thunder opener that was caught by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis. He returned to take 1-7 in his Power Surge over then was there at the death to complete what were by then little more than the formalities, finishing with 4-24 from his four overs.

The support cast: Colin Munro has fast made a habit of extricating the Scorchers from tricky situations and he was at it again tonight, helping take the score from 2-18 upon his arrival to 6-154 at his departure. Through those 15 overs, the Kiwi left-hander played a considered hand, lashing out with a couple of sixes where he could but generally restraining himself until the Power Surge where he and the explosive Turner (30 off 13) teamed up to add 40 in two overs. With the ball, Andrew Tye overcame some middle-over mayhem to take the key wicket of Sam Billings (more on him soon).

The stat: Munro is the first Scorcher since Shaun Marsh in BBL|02 to score three straight fifties.

The stat II: Richardson is now the leading wicket-taker in BBL|10, with 17 from eight innings.

The run-out: Well, fair to say you don't see this every day…

The consolation effort: This was some knock from Sam Billings (83 off 48). It seems there's an Englishman for every occasion in BBL|10 and tonight was Billings' time to shine. At 4-46 in the face of a 186 target, the game looked all but decided, but the classy Thunder right-hander had other ideas. He teamed up with Ben Cutting (31 off 27), who played a sensible hand (until his dismissal), and seemingly in no time, the two had dragged their side back into the match. Billings made an excellent Scorchers attack look ordinary at times through the middle overs, finding his range with a pulled six over midwicket from Mitchell Marsh before sending Fawad Ahmed for couple of maximums in the 13th over. It was a spectacular show from the Englishman but ultimately, as he fast ran out of partners and the pressure of an imposing Scorchers total told, it proved a bridge too far.

The comeback kid: In his first match of BBL|10, it all clicked for Thunder paceman Brendan Doggett, who collected the first four wickets to fall in the Scorchers innings, including star English opening pair Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone. Doggett matched impact with economy, conceding just 22 from his four overs while also shining in the outfield.

The next stops: It's back to Optus Stadium on January 12 for the Scorchers, this time against the Hurricanes, while the Thunder play the Sydney derby against the Sixers in Canberra the following day (Jan 13).