Strikers hold their nerve after Khawaja controversy

A clutch last over from Harry Conway has powered the Adelaide Strikers into the final three of KFC BBL|11 after a thrilling win over the Sydney Thunder at the MCG.

Needing 14 from the final six balls to set up a blockbuster clash with the Sixers at the SCG on Wednesday, the Thunder's Ben Cutting and Alex Ross could only manage seven as they fell six runs short of the Strikers' 6-184.

In a game that ebbed and flowed all night, the talking point will undoubtedly be the dismissal of in-form Test batter Usman Khawaja.

With the match delicately poised in the Thunder's chase, Khawaja advanced down the wicket in the seventh over to Matt Short and sliced a drive to short third man where Fawad Ahmed dived forward and appeared to get his fingers under a low chance.

The umpires sent the catch upstairs and after a few minutes of deliberation, the third umpire couldn't overturn the on-field decision and controversially sent the left-hander on his way.

Khawaja told Fox Cricket after his dismissal that he "didn't agree with it but (he) had to accept it".

"The soft signal cost me, I've never been a big fan of the soft signal; when they give it out on the field it makes it hard to overturn," he said.

"It looked like a blade of grass touched the ball, but I'll accept the umpire's decision and I did, and I walked off the field."

The Thunder skipper and young gun Jason Sangha had consolidated the chase with a 41-run second-wicket partnership after Henry Thornton got the Strikers off to a dream start by removing English import Alex Hales for 9.

Sangha, the Thunder's top run-scorer of BBL|11, didn't let the Khawaja's dismissal unsettle him as he and Ross continued to chip away at the target.

Ross (56) then shifted the momentum, taking 14 runs off the 14th over from Thornton to reduce the equation to 62 from 36 balls.

But just when it looked like the Thunder had edged ahead, the tournament's leading wicket taker Peter Siddle (2-41) claimed the crucial breakthrough as Sangha (61) skied the second ball of the Power Surge to mid-on.

The veteran seamer removed the dangerous Daniel Sams four balls later before the bit-hitting Cutting gave the Thunder a glimmer of hope with a quickfire 16.

But it wasn't to be as Conway (2-33) removed both Ross and Cutting in the final over, with Thornton hanging on to a stunning catch even with wicketkeeper Alex Carey bearing down on him.

Earlier, Carey and Short again got the Strikers off to a flyer as they combined for an opening stand of 41 in the first four overs.

Short, who continued his stellar season with 39 (28) to move into second spot on the tournament's top run-scorers list, got a life when Sams misjudged a high ball, but the left-armer redeemed himself an over later when he took a blinder running back with the flight to remove Carey for 23 (14).

Short ran out of luck just after the halfway mark when he was trapped in front by part-time leg-spinner Sangha, and when Travis Head (3) fell shortly after, the Strikers looked to be wobbling at 3-94.

But Ian Cockbain, the Strikers' late-season recruit from suburban club cricket in southeast Melbourne, smashed Sangha (1-36) for 18 from the 14th over.

Cockbain (65) found an ally in Jon Wells (18) as they put on 52 for the fourth wicket in quick time, with only four dot balls in a partnership that spanned 4.1 overs.

The English right-hander crunched three huge sixes, two of which landed 10 rows back, in his 38-ball knock before he tried one too many and ballooned a catch to point off Nathan McAndrew.

Wells fell an over later as Thomas Kelly and Matthew Renshaw struggled to find the boundary late in the innings with only two fours in the final three-and-a half overs.

Tanveer Sangha was the standout bowler for the Thunder with 2-15 from his four overs and was the only bowler to concede less than eight an over.

The Strikers will now travel to Sydney to take on the Sixers on Wednesday night for a spot in the final against the Perth Scorchers at Marvel Stadium on Friday.