Turner clinic leads Scorchers into BBL decider

Scorchers overcome early wobble to progress to BBL|12 Final

Skipper Ashton Turner and reinvented T20 star Cameron Bancroft have led the Scorchers into an eighth KFC BBL final with a superb 132-run unbeaten partnership in front of a parochial 40,000-strong crowd at Perth Stadium.

The pair came together with the Scorchers in early trouble chasing the Sydney Sixers’ competitive 8-151 after Sean Abbott (3-25) silenced the home supporters with three wickets in his opening two overs.

Stephen Eskinazi and Aaron Hardie both fell for single figures and Josh Inglis a second-ball duck as the home side slumped to 3-22 at the end of the four-over Powerplay.

The Sixers night was summed up with two comical fielding efforts in the 13th over with the score just shy of 100 as Bancroft and Turner were taking the match away from the three-time BBL champions.

Neither wicketkeeper Josh Philippe or retiring veteran Dan Christian could lay a hand on a fly ball from Bancroft on 28, and Ben Dwarshuis took a tumble in the outfield fours balls later to gift him an easy boundary.

Turner then put the result beyond doubt with a 15-run opening over of the Power Surge as the Scorchers cantered home with nine balls to spare.

Terrific Turner delivers match-winning, career-best knock

He finished unbeaten on 84 from 47 balls, while Bancroft was unbeaten on 53 (45), with the Scorchers sealing hosting rights for the BBL|12 Final next Saturday.

Earlier, it was a perfect start for the home side as Jason Behrendorff bowled local boy Philippe (1) in the first over of the match before Hardie set the 41,126-strong crowd alight with a spectacular leaping grab at mid-on to send former Scorchers teammate Kurtis Patterson back for six.

Hardie hang time kicks off blockbuster Qualifier

But Hardie quickly crashed back to earth with a sensational drop of BBL|12’s hottest batter Steve Smith three overs later.

Smith, on 12 at the time, had miscued an attempted lofted drive straight to Hardie at mid-off, who appeared to go to his knees attempting the catch before ultimately spilling the simple chance.

It was an up and down night for the Scorchers allrounder in the field, also grassing a high ball off his own bowling in the final over of the Sixers’ innings.

Smith entered the match having blasted scores of 36, 101, 125no and 66 in his past four innings, and Hardie would have been fearful his dropped catch would cost the Scorchers dearly.

But Smith has failed to make the most of his golden reprieve, falling two overs later for 18 to another fantastic catch as English seamer David Payne – who was almost ruled out of the match due to illness – hung onto the chance low to his left off his own bowling.

Payne gets horizontal to claim massive wicket of Smith

It was a tough night in the field for both side as another Scorchers blunder in the field did come back to haunt them.

This time AJ Tye was the culprit, with the cult hero dropping a simple chance at backward point when Sixers skipper Moises Henriques was on 18.

Henriques went on to make 58 off 43 balls, combining well with Jordan Silk (47no off 34 balls) to help the Sixers recover from a shaky start.

Payne finished with figures of 3-33 from his four overs, including the key scalps of Smith and Henriques, finishing his spell on a hat-trick by removing Hayden Kerr for a golden duck with another sharp return catch.

Jason Behrendorff finished with 2-17 from his four overs, while Tye collected 1-39 in his 100th BBL match.

The Sixers will now host the winner of tomorrow night’s match between the Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat in the Challenger at the SCG on Thursday for another crack at making the decider.

Tickets for next Saturday’s BBL|12 Final at Perth Stadium go on sale at tomorrow at 1pm AWST with a three-hour pre-sale period opening at 10am.

Tickets for the Challenger at the SCG also go on sale tomorrow at 1pm AEDT with another three-hour pre-sale period opening at 10am.