Strikers pick two leggies, Harris and debutant to open for Scorchers

Both the Scorchers and Strikers have made big calls for the BBL|13 Knockout, as the home side bowls first in Perth

Adelaide Strikers have backed their leg-spinning duo to upset the Scorchers at their Perth fortress, with the hosts also blooding a debutant opener as they look to bounce back from their first loss at Optus Stadium in nine matches.

Scorchers skipper Aaron Hardie won the toss and opted to bowl first in today’s KFC BBL|13 Knockout final in Perth where temperatures rose to 33C before the first ball at 4.40pm local time – however, not quite as warm as the scorching 40.7C for their clash with Brisbane at the same venue a week ago.

Both sides have been forced into several changes due to the UAE T20 league, with power-hitting Englishman Laurie Evans unavailable for the Scorchers and Chris Lynn, Jamie Overton and Adam Hose finishing their stints with the Strikers.

Leg-spinning pair Cameron Boyce and Lloyd Pope have both been named for the Strikers, while West Australian batter Sam Fanning will make his T20 debut at the top of the order alongside Victorian Marcus Harris.

Scorchers XI: Sam Fanning, Marcus Harris, Sam Whiteman, Aaron Hardie (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris

Strikers XI: Matt Short (c), D’Arcy Short, Jake Weatherald, Thomas Kelly, Harry Nielsen (wk), Ben Manenti, James Bazley, Henry Thornton, David Payne, Cameron Boyce, Lloyd Pope

Harris has been picked to play his first match for the Scorchers since BBL|05 after being picked up as a local replacement player for Jhye Richardson (side strain) last week, with Sam Whiteman sliding to three, with Hardie and Josh Inglis also sliding down a spot.

English opener Stephen Eskinazi failed a late fitness test and will miss the match after copping a nasty blow on the left hand from Sean Abbott in the Scorchers’ final-ball loss to the Sixers in their last game of the home-and-away season.

The Strikers have brought in allrounders Ben Manenti to bat at No.6, and James Bazley at No.7, to fill the void left by their departing stars.

The winner of today’s match will progress to the Challenger against the Brisbane Heat on the Gold Coast on Monday, after the minor premiers at the end of the regular season went down to the Sydney Sixers by 39 runs on Friday night.

The Sixers await the winner of that clash in the BBL|13 Final at the SCG on Wednesday night.

The Strikers are on a four-game winning run heading into the finals, locking up fourth spot with wins over the Scorchers, Hurricanes (twice) and Thunder, batting second in all four of those matches.

It’s a streak that started when Pope was brought into the side for his Adelaide debut and first BBL match since BBL|11.

Pope took 2-36 when the two sides last met, as Matt Short hit an unbeaten 76 and Lynn an unbeaten 50 as the Strikers won by nine wickets at Adelaide Oval to kickstart their surge back into finals contention.

Two days prior to that, the Scorchers defeated the Strikers by 42 runs in their last head-to-head clash at Optus Stadium.

Since that defeat, Boyce and Pope have only been hit for five boundaries and 10 sixes in four games, and combined for 13 wickets at economy rates of 5.37 and 9.38 respectively.

Pope’s googly on fire with three bowleds in four balls

“They’ve done it at the Adelaide Oval where it’s pretty flat as well and short boundaries square, so I don’t see why they can’t do it out here,” opener D’Arcy Short said ahead of Saturday’s clash.

“Taking momentum into the finals, hopefully it works in our favour.”

Perth are also backing their local depth after losing captain Ashton Turner, Richardson, Evans and English opener Zak Crawley missing from their first choice XI at the start of the season.

But last season’s BBL Final heroes are hitting their straps entering the pointy end of the season with Nick Hobson (56 runs striking at 164.7) and Cooper Connolly (72 runs striking at 167.4) firing with the bat in the death overs.

Inside story of Perth’s epic BBL|12 Final run chase

“We’ve got a really nice depth to backup what is probably a really big hole when Laurie goes,” Scorchers speedster Lance Morris said on match eve.

“He’s been amazing for us all tournament and it was pretty sad to see him off but he did an amazing job but extremely confident that the likes of Marcus Harris and other guys we’ve got waiting in the wings, they’ve got the experience to get it done.

“We’ve seen it last year with the likes of Nick Hobson and Cooper Connolly that they can step up and it’s actually been nice to see those guys have a bit more of a hit than what they normally would by this time in the season.

“So they’ve got a bit of game time behind them and I’m sure that’ll do them wonders.”

KFC BBL|13 Finals Schedule

The Qualifier: Sydney Sixers beat Brisbane Heat by 39 runs

The Knockout: Perth Scorchers v Adelaide Strikers, January 20, 7.40pm AEDT, Optus Stadium

The Challenger: Brisbane Heat v winner of the Knockout, January 22, 7.40pm AEDT, Carrara Stadium, Gold Coast

The Final: Sydney Sixers v winner of the Challenger. January 24, 7.15pm AEDT, SCG