Scorchers end 2020 on a high with first BBL10 victory

The match in a tweet: Perth get on the board with their first win of #BBL10 to spoil the Strikers' New Year's Party

The scores: Adelaide Strikers 9-146 (Carey 82, J Richardson 3-19) lost to the Perth Scorchers 3-147 (Roy 49, Inglis 44*, Marsh 38*) by seven wickets with 14 balls remaining

The heroes: No individual stand-out performers, but solid all-round team efforts from the Perth Scorchers tonight, which will be most pleasing for coach Adam Voges, who made some tactical moves.

Perth pulled the trigger on an all-England opening combination of Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone in their second game together, with impressive results as the visitors got off to a flyer. And it was Roy who was did the early damage as he raced along to 49 from 32 balls.

Roy took to Daniel Worrall early with back-to-back boundaries in the third over, hitting seven in total and also pulled a big six in his 32-ball knock.

While Livingstone and Colin Munro exited early without reaching double-figures, Perth found a solid partnership between Mitch Marsh and Josh Inglis, in his new position at No.4. The pair put on a second 50-plus partnership for the Scorchers, saw off Rashid Khan and weathered a storm from Wes Agar in playing largely risk-free cricket to see their team home.

The supporting cast: It surely won't be too long until Jhye Richardson is back bowling in Australian colours. The speedster had an important impact tonight, claiming a very impressive 3-19 from his four overs.

Upping the pace to the high 140s, Richardson's first wicket came when Phil Salt played a poor shot to turn a catch to the fielder on the square leg fence. His second scalp was vital when he got Alex Carey to miscue and be well caught in the deep by a running AJ Tye. And good captaincy saw Daniel Worrall sucked into trying to clear the infield to hole out to mid-on for a third.

The Perth Scorchers expect big things of allrounder Aaron Hardie, and he played an important role for his side with the new ball with two key wickets, as well as putting in a strong shift at the death.

Just 21 years-old, Hardie has been part of the Perth squad for a few years now but is really starting to come into his own. A tall and powerful man, he seems to find some extra bounce, and that's what helped him get both wickets today, with both left-handers Jake Weatherald and Matthew Renshaw falling after spooning up leading edges. He finished with 2-21 from his four overs.

The consolation act: A gem of an innings from Alex Carey as he creamed 12 boundaries and a six in his 82 runs from 59 balls.

Coming to the wicket in just the third over, Carey peppered the off-side boundary, carving shots through and over the covers before Perth adjusted their line. That saw Australia's ODI wicketkeeper start hitting boundaries behind square, and when Richardson dropped short, Carey stood up and popped the ball over 'keeper Josh Inglis' head for another four.

He got a life on 69 – more on that below – and then creamed the next two balls for a four and sublime straight six. A century looked on the cards and it took some clever bowling by Richardson and a very good running catch from Tye to end his innings.

The battle: While he's far from alone, Perth No.3 Colin Munro has had his troubles against Rashid Khan.

When it came to the last ball of the 10th over, with Perth needing four to secure the Bash Boost point, Adelaide captain Alex Carey effectively sacrificed the point by keeping the field up to keep Munro on strike for the next over, to be bowled by Rashid.

Josh Inglis hit a four to secure the bonus point, but the gamble paid off when Rashid bewitched Munro with a series of wrong'uns next over, the third of which trapped the New Zealander leg before.

The big drop: "I'm not sure I've seen an easier catch ever go down," said Ricky Ponting on the Seven Network, and it's hard to disagree.

Alex Carey was on 69 when AJ Tye delivered a knuckle-ball wide of the off stump. Carey stretched, and managed to get the toe-end of the bat to the ball and spooned a catch towards Fawad Ahmed at gully that promptly hit the turf.

In the next two balls, Carey had added another 10 runs and 16 off the over.

The run out: Jonathan Wells is such an important player for the Adelaide Strikers that some were even putting him in the mix for Australia selection last summer.

He's failed to reach those same heights this season, but being barbecued in a run out for just two certainly hasn't helped. Interestingly, it is now 11 run-outs that have involved Alex Carey all up, including the five times where he has been the player dismissed.

That may seem like a lot – and is – but it's still well short of the 16 in which Perth coach Adam Voges was involved in during his playing days.

The next stop: It's home sweet home for the Perth Scorchers to start 2021. They head home with a spring in their step and to sleep in their own beds, dreaming of getting on a roll with four consecutive home games at Optus Stadium to come over the next 12 days, starting with a game against the Melbourne Renegades on January 3. On the same day, Adelaide will be on the Gold Coast, where they face the Sydney Sixers.