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Teenager Cooper Connolly&#39;s big hitting at the death and skipper Ashton Turner&#39;s heroic 53 saw Perth Scorchers beat Brisbane Heat to win an unprecedented fifth T20 Big Bash League title on Saturday. Their fireworks propelled them to 178-5 and a nail-biting five-wicket win with four balls left in front of a record 53,886 parochial fans at Perth Stadium after Brisbane put on 175-7.It was a successful title defence by a side who beat the Sydney Sixers in last season&#39;s decider, with Saturday&#39;s win securing a fifth trophy in only the competition&#39;s 12th year.&quot;It&#39;s a surreal feeling. I&#39;ve played a lot of games of cricket but you never know how it will pan out,&quot; said man-of-the-match Turner after his 32-ball knock.&quot;We are in rarified air at the moment, we have a lot of guys in form and that&#39;s not always the case. A lot of guys have contributed to wins throughout the season.&quot;A victory looked highly unlikely when Turner was run out after a horror mix-up with Nick Hobson, leaving them needing 39 needed off 19 balls. But young gun Connolly smashed 25 off 11 balls to turn the game on its head. He crunched 18 of those from a James Bazley over to leave them needing 20 off the final 12 balls.Hobson then smashed a huge six followed by a no-ball five in the last over to secure the victory. &quot;At 19 (years old) to have this crowd cheer for me, couldn&#39;t have asked for anything better. It&#39;s a dream come true,&quot; said left-hander Connolly. &quot;I had full confidence in myself.&quot;The clash culminated a season marked by thrilling finishes, controversial moments, outstanding individual performances, and more than one million fans through the turnstiles. Perth earned home-ground advantage after finishing on top of the regular season table, then knocking off the Sixers in a qualifying match last weekend.The Heat only finished fifth and had to come through three knockout games, all away from home, to reach the final. Both teams were depleted with the Heat&#39;s Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw and Mitchell Swepson all departing earlier this week for Australia&#39;s tour of India.The Scorchers were without fast bowler Lance Morris and teammate Ashton Agar who are also preparing for the four-Test Border-Gavaskar series starting on Thursday in Nagpur. Heat skipper Jimmy Peirson won the toss and batted first with Josh Brown coming out with all guns blazing, smacking 25 off the opening 11 balls.But his luck soon ran out and after the opening barrage, the Scorchers restricted Brisbane to 86-1 by the halfway mark. Jason Behrendorff removed Sam Heazlett for 34, snapping a dangerous 79-run stand with Nathan McSweeney, then Peirson for three in the same over.McSweeney fell for 41 before Max Bryant smashed an aggressive 31 from 14 balls to ensure a handy total. In reply, Scorchers opener Stephen Eskinazi made a brisk 21 before a schoolboy run out, then Michael Neser clung on to a high catch to remove Cameron Bancroft for 15.When Aaron Hardie went for 17 in the following over, they were wobbling at 54-3. But Turner and Josh Inglis put on a high-quality 80 in 52 balls before Connolly and Hobson sealed the win.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The clash culminated a season marked by thrilling finishes, controversial moments, outstanding individual performances, and more than one million fans through the turnstiles

Cooper Connolly

Big Bash League, 2022/23

Brisbane Heat

Perth Scorchers

Scorchers beat Heat to win fifth Big Bash League title

After 56 league matches and four play-offs, the two finalists are ready to fight it out for the title. In the orange corner, it is the four-time champions Perth Scorchers (2013/14, 2014/15, 2016/17, and 2021/22), and in the gray, the one-time champions Brisbane Heat (2012/13).Both teams have made it to the finals through contrasting routes. Scorchers won 11 out of their 14 matches and topped the table with 22 points in the league stage. Whereas, the Brisbane Heat rose like a phoenix after defeats in their first few matches.Perth Scorchers road to finalThey are the title defenders, and they have played like one. Throughout this season, the Scorchers hardly put a foot wrong. That is one of the reasons why they topped the points table, and bossed their way to the final with a commanding win in the Qualifier.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1675455088800-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">In the league stage, their three losses came against Hobart Hurricanes, Sydney Thunder and the Sydney Sixers. They beat Brisbane in both the encounters in the league stage, and both were emphatic wins. Safe to say, they will have the psychological advantage in the final. In fact, in their last nine matches against Brisbane, Perth have lost only one.StrengthsIn all three departments, batting, bowling, and fielding, Perth have been the best team.Coming to their batters, they have scored at a run rate of 8.6 and have hit a boundary every 5.9 balls, the best in the league. They aren&rsquo;t the power-packed ones like Brisbane at the start, but they are one of the best finishers. In the last five overs, they have hit a boundary every 4.9 balls, the best by any team.On the bowling front, their economy and the balls/wicket ratio stand above all. They have conceded at an economy of 7.5 while picking up a wicket every 15.3 balls. In the field, they have dropped the least catches and have the best catching efficiency (94.4 percent). All-in-all, a complete performing team.WeaknessTheir only weakness in this edition has been their spinners. Their spinners have picked up only 16 wickets, the least among all teams, and their balls/wicket ratio of 31.2 is also the worst. Given, they play most of their matches in Perth, including the final, a less conducive surface for spinners, it should not affect them much.&nbsp;Jhye Richardson, who has been an integral part in wins for Perth, will not be available for the finals, owing an injury.&nbsp;Top PerformersTop three run scorers:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/68072/aaron-hardie/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Aaron Hardie</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 14, Runs &ndash; 443, Avg &ndash; 44.3, SR &ndash; 141.5),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65893/josh-inglis/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Josh Inglis</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 14, Runs &ndash; 405, Avg &ndash; 36.8, SR &ndash; 148.9) &amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/59365/cameron-bancroft/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cameron Bancroft</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 10, Runs &ndash; 342, Avg &ndash; 57, SR &ndash; 141.3)Top three wicket-takers:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64274/andrew-tye/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andrew Tye</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 15, Wkts &ndash; 25, Econ &ndash; 8.3, balls/wkt &ndash; 13.9),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57041/jason-behrendorff/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jason Behrendorff</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 13, Wkts &ndash; 19, Econ &ndash; 6.7, balls/wkt &ndash; 16.1) &amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65051/jhye-richardson/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jhye Richardson</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 7, Wkts &ndash; 15, Econ &ndash; 6.75, balls/wkt &ndash; 11)Highest Score: Cameron Bancroft &ndash; 95* vs Melbourne Renegades, Match 52Best bowling: Jhye Richardson &ndash; 4/9 vs Sydney Sixers, Match 6&nbsp;Brisbane Heat road to finalTo be precise, they have done something similar to what Mumbai Indians did in the 2015 edition of the IPL. Mumbai lost four out of their first five matches in 2015, and so did Brisbane this season. In fact, in their first nine matches, Brisbane had only two wins to their name with one game ending without a result. In their last eight matches, five in the league stages and three in the knockouts, they bounced back to win seven and lose only one.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1675455775267-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">With four wins out of the five in the league stage, Brisbane managed to acquire the last knockout spot (5th). Thereon, they have won all the knockout stage matches.StrengthsOne of their biggest strengths in this edition has been their starts. Brisbane have scored at a run rate of 8.2 in the first four overs, the best after Hobart Hurricanes (8.4). However, in terms of balls/boundary ratio, they are the best (5.0).The reason behind their good starts has been their openers. Their openers have scored at a run rate of 8.5, the best among all teams. They have hit a boundary every 4.8 balls when no other teams&rsquo; openers have a ratio of less than 5.5. To intensify it further, in the first four overs, they have scored at a run rate of 9.1 and have hit a boundary every 4.3 balls, the best by a mile. &nbsp;Their bowling in the last five overs of the innings has been exceptional. They have conceded runs (9.8 econ), but have picked up 37 wickets at a balls/wicket ratio of 10.1, the best among all teams in this phase.WeaknessDespite a stupendous record in the last five overs with the ball, overall, they haven&rsquo;t been that great. They have conceded runs at an economy of 8.2 and have bagged a wicket every 19 balls, their balls/wicket ratio is the second worst among all teams.From overs 1-15, their bowlers have picked up a wicket every 24.9 balls, the worst among all teams. If their batters have been one of the best in the first four overs, their bowlers have been the worst. Their economy of 8.3 is the highest among all teams.Adding to that, Brisbane fielders have dropped 11 catches and have an efficiency of 86.3 percent, which is the worst among all teams. Also, apart from Jimmy Peirson, none of the top run scorers, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja (National duty) and Colin Munro will be available of the Finals.&nbsp;&nbsp;Top PerformersTop three run scorers:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/60299/jimmy-peirson/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jimmy Peirson</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 16, Runs &ndash; 331, Avg &ndash; 25.5, SR &ndash; 117),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65050/matt-renshaw/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matt Renshaw</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 12, Runs &ndash; 283, Avg &ndash; 28.3, SR &ndash; 135.4) &amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11724/colin-munro/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Colin Munro</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 8, Runs &ndash; 278, Avg &ndash; 34.75, SR &ndash; 150.3)Top three wicket-takers:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/39447/michael-neser/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Michael Neser</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 15, Wkts &ndash; 26, Econ &ndash; 8.3, balls/wkt &ndash; 12.6),&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64568/james-bazley/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">James Bazley</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 13, Wkts &ndash; 16, Econ &ndash; 7.8, balls/wkt &ndash; 15.8) &amp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65047/matthew-kuhnemann/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matt Kuhnemann</a>&nbsp;(Inns &ndash; 16, Wkts &ndash; 15, Econ &ndash; 7.6, balls/wkt &ndash; 20.8)Highest Score: Colin Munro &ndash; 98 vs Sydney Thunder, Match 19Best bowling: James Bazley &ndash; 4/22 vs Sydney Thunder, Match 19Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Perth Scorchers will lock horns with Brisbane Heat in the title clash for 12th edition of BBL

Aaron Hardie

Andrew Tye

Jimmy Peirson

Michael Neser

Perth’s consistency hold advantage against the underdogs Brisbane

Injury scares in Australia are not stopping anytime soon, as Perth Scorchers quick Jhye Richardson continues to struggle with a hamstring injury, which would now rule him out of the Big Bash League final. Richardson suffered the injury in the match against Sydney Thunder on January 4, but was expected to return for the finals but that has now been ruled out.&quot;I think Jhye&#39;s chances are pretty slim. I&#39;d be surprised if we see him next weekend,&quot; conceded Scorchers captain Ashton Turner.&quot;Jhye&#39;s such an exciting cricketer, but he&#39;s still a young guy,&quot; Turner said. &quot;He puts his body through a lot. But we also have a bit of perspective. Jhye&#39;s got a lot of cricket ahead of him, in orange, playing for WA, playing for Australia, playing for franchises around the world.&quot;He&#39;s too important to put unnecessary risk on his body. I don&#39;t think it&#39;s worth putting someone&#39;s young body under too much stress.&quot;Currently, the Scorchers will also be without Lance Morris who has joined the Australian team for the tour of India. Legspinner Peter Hatzoglou and quick Matt Kelly will be contesting for the spot vacated by Morris.&nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ll have to assess the conditions,&quot; Turner said. &quot;Peter Hatzoglou has bowled really nicely for us over a couple of years now. He&#39;s someone who should be playing at this level. He&#39;s got a proven track record, he&#39;s won us games.&quot;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Scorchers will also be without Lance Morris who has joined the Australian team for the tour of India

Jhye Richardson likely to miss Big Bash League final with injury

SCO vs HEA T20 Final, Big Bash League, 2022/23 - Commentary

SCO VS HEA,Final

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