Perth pulverise Hobart in massive nine-wicket win

The match in a tweet: Perth sizzle in fifth straight win as English duo pummels the poor Hobart Hurricanes for a massive net run-rate boosting win #BBL10

The Score: Hobart Hurricanes 5-139 (Short 54, Hardie 2-36) lost to Perth Scorchers 1-140 (Roy 74no, Livingstone 54) by 9 wickets with 22 balls remaining

The Points: Hobart Hurricanes: 0, Perth Scorchers: 4

The Heroes: Brutal, savage, merciless – whatever adjective you like, they all applied to this ruthless assault from Perth's English opening duo of Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone. Hard to believe that this was Roy's maiden KFC BBL fifty, and Livingstone was not far behind in reaching the milestone. Chasing a sub-par Hobart total and keen to give a raucous Optus Stadium crowd something to cheer for their last (regular season) look at live BBL action, it was a boundary-hitting assault.

Livingstone – who was dropped by D'Arcy Short at gully off his very first ball – made Hobart pay with four massive sixes in his 39-ball 54, his first fifty of BBL|10. The highlight was a six looped up and over the wicketkeeper's head off Scott Boland. And he was punishing against Hobart debutant Mitch Owen, slamming him for a couple of sixes in his first over.

Roy went into overdrive in the 10th over, slamming three successive fours to the deep-midwicket fence from D'Arcy Short's leg-spin. It would have been perfect batting to chase down a Bash Boost point – if Perth hadn't already sailed past that mark way back in the seventh over.

The Supporting Cast: Jhye Richardson continues to go from strength to strength in his comeback season, and is now the competition's leading wicket-taker with 18 scalps at 11.16 and an economy of 6.34. This match yielded just the one wicket, but it was a big one, as he yielded just 23 runs in his four overs. Up against Ben McDermott, BBL|10's top run-scorer, with the new ball, it was a clear win for the bowler, as McDermott chopped on to be bowled for 2 off six balls.

The Consolation Act: This innings won't feature in D'Arcy Short's career highlight reels, but in the context of this match, it was vitally important. With Hobart losing two wickets in the first 20 balls and limping along to 3-50 by the 10-over mark in the face of some highly impressive Perth bowling, Short's knock provided the anchor that Hobart needed to be able to launch a lower-order attack. In front of his home-town fans, Short struck seven boundaries, finally finding some fluency as Hobart took the Power Surge at the first available opportunity in the 11th over with a lovely straight drive back over Aaron Hardie's head. Sadly, it proved his final boundary of the match.

The injury: Mitchell Marsh was only three balls into his first over when he had to leave the field with an apparent side injury. Marsh has had a poor run with injuries this season: He did a serious ankle injury bowling in his first IPL game, and was still recovering from that when the BBL|10 season started. He was subbed out at the 10-over mark as Perth took advantage of the an X-factor option, brining in Kurtis Patterson.

The Next Stop: After a prosperous home stint, it's back on the road for the Perth Scorchers, who will next play the Sydney Sixers at Manuka Oval on Saturday, January 16, in a match rescheduled away from the SCG due to border restrictions on NSW. For Hobart, they will have an extra two days' rest before they face the Sydney Thunder, also at Manuka, on January 18.

Perth Scorchers XI: Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Cameron Bancroft, Josh Inglis (wk), Mitch Marsh (sub: Kurtis Patterson), Ashton Turner (c), Aaron Hardie, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed

Hobart Hurricanes XI: D'Arcy Short, Ben McDermott (wk), Dawid Malan, Peter Handscomb (c), Colin Ingram, Tim David, Mitch Owen, Nathan Ellis, Scott Boland, Riley Meredith, Sandeep Lamichhane