Ruthless Adelaide soar back into second spot

The match in a tweet: Fast starting Strikers reap the rewards and return to second on BBL ladder as Liam Livingstone's lone hand falls short for Scorchers

The score: Adelaide Strikers 5-181 (Salt 59) beat the Perth Scorchers 7-165 (Livingstone 79, W Agar 3-36) by 16 runs

The ladder changes: The win for Adelaide returned them to second spot on the BBL|09 table, ahead of the Sydney Sixers on net run rate. The defeat for Perth kept them in fourth spot. It sets up a thrilling weekend of Big Bash action with the final-playing positions two to five all yet to be locked in. Indeed, seven of the eight teams are still in with a hunt of playing finals cricket.

The hero: It's rare for a bowler to feature in this section but there's a very good argument to be made for Wes Agar to take the honours here for the Adelaide Strikers.

Sure, the batters set up a big total that forced Perth to take risks in the run-chase, but the way Liam Livingstone in particular was going about things, the home side looked set to take this match to the wire.

 

After a couple of tight overs, Agar was the beneficiary when Josh Inglis forced the issue and mis-cued, chipping to mid-off for his first wicket.

And in his second over he struck again, getting Livingstone off strike then inducing Scorchers captain Mitch Marsh to hit down fine-leg's throat.

The big reward came in his third over when Livingstone was undone on the pull-shot, hitting it to Jake Weatherald at deep mid-wicket.

The support act: From the first ball he faced, smashing Jhye Richardson down the ground for four, Adelaide opener Phil Salt showed he was in the mood. Two more boundaries came in Richardson's next over, including one hit so hard back at the bowler he opted for self-preservation rather than any attempt at a catch.

He found the boundary with regularity, striking seven fours as well as two savage sixes into the crowd off the spin of first Fawad Ahmed then Ashton Agar, and rotated the strike when the boundaries weren't coming.

His dismissal for 59 off the 31st ball he faced was his first mis-step. Agar bowled a touch fuller and Salt over-balanced, walking down the wicket as the ball fizzed past his outside edge for Josh Inglis to complete a smart stumping.

But the Englishman had done his job, after 10 overs the Strikers had 98 on the board.

The consolation effort: Perth opener Liam Livingstone smashed a six measured at 106m of the bowling of Michael Neser in the second over of the run chase.

It was indicative of the excitement he brought to the crease, but the lack of support ultimately cost the Scorchers dearly as no other batter scored more than 17.

Any ball delivered in the hitting zone for Livingstone is at risk of being met with a full swing of the bat, and Livingstone has a follow-through straight from the tee box of the golf course, with a little Kevin Pietersen-esque bent knee flourish to complete the look.

The Lancashire batsman followed it up his first maximum with a similar strike off Travis Head that didn't quite have the same distance, but two balls later the Adelaide fielders were again fetching it from beyond the rope.

In all he struck seven sixes, and just the one four, as his 54-ball effort yielded 79 runs.

The Superman: Oh, no, sorry, it was just Adelaide wicketkeeper Alex Carey 

 

The cause for Perth optimism: The long-awaited return of Ashton Turner to the bowling crease was part of a key fightback from the home team's bowling unit. Adelaide had got off to a flyer as Phil Salt (59 off 31), Jake Weatherald (35 off 24) and Travis Head (35 off 31) had Adelaide flying at 2-124 after 12 overs.

But the spin of Fawad Ahmed, Ashton Agar and the introduction of Turner – who only bowled one over for six runs – helped curtail the visitors.

 

The 12th over – bowled by Scorchers captain Mitch Marsh – went for 19 runs – but the final eight overs of the innings saw Adelaide score just 3-57. Sadly for Perth, the damage had already been done.

The sign off: The scorchers bid farewell to Chris Jordan tonight as he heads to South Africa to link up with the limited-overs side for their ODI matches against the Proteas. Coming in to replace him is South African star Morne Morkel, who has spent the week in Perth getting accustomed to the Optus Stadium pitch in the hope of a home final, and meeting his new teammates ahead of his BBL debut on Sunday.

 

The next stop: The Scorchers, revitalised after their first stretch of back-to-back home games, are back on the road as they head to Sydney for their final game of the regular season in what looms as a pivotal showdown with the Sydney Thunder who need a win to force their way into the finals.

The Strikers head back to Adelaide where they will play the Hobart Hurricanes, who earlier tonight leapt up into fifth spot ahead of the Thunder with a big win over that team in Hobart.

Perth Scorchers XI: Liam Livingston, Josh Inglis (wk), Kurtis Patterson, Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Turner, Cameron Bancroft, Ashton Agar, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Matthew Kelly, Fawad Ahmed.

Adelaide Strikers XI: Phil Salt, Jake Weatherald, Travis Head (c), Alex Carey (wk), Jon Wells, Matt Short, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Billy Stanlake.