Perth Scorchers continued their excellent run in the tournament, beating Hobart Hurricanes by 22 runs in Match 47 of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21 at the Docklands Stadium, Melbourne. This victory has put the Scorchers in pole position to make it to the playoffs. They now have 27 points from 12 matches, while the Hurricanes still have a chance of qualifying and have 23 points from 12 games. 

The Scorchers now have lost one of their last five matches, while the Hurricanes have won just once in their last five games – contrasting campaigns during the business end of the tournament.

The Scorchers played some calculated cricket against the Hurricanes in this match. While initially, wickets kept falling at regular intervals, they did not let the run-rate dip. Despite being four-down in the eighth over, they were scoring at over eight an over. That worked in their favour as Josh Inglis played one of his best innings of the tournament, scoring a 35-ball 58. While openers Jason Roy (20) and Liam Livingstone (26) got off to starts, it was Jhye Richardson’s 14-ball 29 that eventually pushed Scorchers from a par total to a match-winning one. 

Inglis, who came in at No.4, first built a 44-run stand with Ashton Turner (15) to steady the ship, followed by quick-fire 27-run and 35-run stands with Aaron Hardie (12) and Richardson respectively, with the latter one really pushing the score past the 175-run mark.

While there were a couple of shining lights in the batting department for the Hurricanes – D’Arcy Short (43) and Peter Handscomb (30) making vital contributions, but the day belonged to Nathan Ellis who finished with 4 for 34 earlier in the day.

The Hurricanes seemed to have bounced back when they scored 30 of their two Power Surge overs (11 & 12). But they lost their two set batsmen Handscomb (1th over) and Short (13th over) and, as a result, they could not accelerate as much as they would have liked in the latter stages of the chase.

Ellis' effort was only bettered by Richardson, who after a brisk innings with the bat, returned to pick up four wickets to derail the Hurricanes. Will Jacks (21) and Tim David (27) tried to get the Hurricanes out of jail, but it was too much for them in the end and the Men in Purple suffered their sixth defeat of the campaign. 

The Scorchers will look to continue their good run of form when they take on Melbourne Stars next at the MCG on Saturday (January 23) before heading to Sydney on Tuesday (January 26), where they will play their last match of the league stage against Brisbane Heat. The Hurricanes, on the other hand, take on Sydney Sixers (January 24) and Melbourne Renegades (January 26) at the MCG.

Brief scores:

Perth Scorchers 179 for 8 in 20 overs (Josh Inglis 58, Jhye Richardson 29; Nathan Ellis 4 for 34) beat Hobart Hurricanes 157 for 8 in 20 overs (D’Arcy Short 43, Peter Handscomb 30; Jhye Richardson 4 for 33) by 22 runs.

Player of the Match: Jhye Richardson