Callum Ferguson’s experience led the Thunder across the line
Thunder Sydney 3 for 156 (Fergus 61 *, Davies 36, Behrendorff 1-32) beat Perth Writers 5 for 152 (M Marsh 52 *, Bancroft 34 *, Cut 1-16) with seven wikis
An engaging discussion from Ollie Davies and a famous goal by Adam Milne were two of the special highlights for the Sydney Thunder as they marched to victory against a team from Perth Scorchers who had never hit high gear.
The Scorchers worked to 3 for 56 at the halfway mark of the innards and while Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Bancroft did a good job of bringing them over 150 it felt like they were always playing up.
The run had tough times at first, but the 75-in-seven partnership between 20-year-old Davies and captain Callum Ferguson put the Thunder on course before Ben Cutting played his part in closing. out the game.
Heating heat
The Thunder hadn’t given much early impetus to their pursuit after losing to Alex Hales for the first-ball duck – battered by a beauty from Jason Behrendorff – and Usman Khawaja went into the side of the short leg off. after being given life with permission from a terribly umpiring decision when he hit the cover off a driver against AJ Tye. The Scorchers, and especially Tye, could hardly believe the decision with the umpiring telling the bowler that he thought the bat had hit the ground. Tye was still ticking at the end of the day and needs to be calmly told. However, it was far from the poor first decision in this contest that will revisit the debate over the lack of the DRS.
Youth and experience
It’s 16 years between Ferguson and Davies who came together for the stand that turned the game in Thunder’s favor. Two years ago, Davies came to the fore when he hit six six in a tournament at an under-19 tournament and that was the kind of intention he put here. Against Behrendorff, an international bow player, he used his feet to launch six over a midwicket and then hit a huge one-handed hook out of the ground – the pleasure evident in his face. He showed that same positive approach against Fawad Ahmed ‘s spin, sweeping him away for his third six, before he got one too many dips and was stumped. But it was a happy little hotel.
Ferguson, who got a life of 2 when Josh Inglis missed a difficult chance, was certainly not left to his young teammate, heading into Aaron Hardie’s third as the game went on. on the Thunder trail. He went to his half-century from 39 balls then Cutting was thrown into Jhye Richardson in the first run of the Power Surge to bring the required rate under running ball though. good games from Tye, which included Ferguson let down by Marsh, and Ahmed brought some modicum weight.
Milne returned
Milne was playing his first game since August 2019 after another run of injuries. He has selected the BBL against New Zealand’s domestic cricket in a bid to push his qualifications for the next T20 World Cup. After being admitted to the competition, his first time was impressive as he conceded just 17 of his four petals and did not concede a finish, often hastening the bats for distance. However, a few hearts would be in his mouth early in his second when his spikes did not take the delivery route and slipped through the ditch, very close to doing something bad to his ankle. He finished smoothly on his back, but as a relief to all he got a quick smile before dusting himself down.
Power Surge pinch hitter
There was a bit of thinking outside the box from the Scorchers as they tried to bring life into their engines when they said the Surge. Ashton Turner, who hit the ball again well, had fallen to the final delivery of the first two of the two teams and Richardson walked out at No. 6 with a swing pass. He was successful when he sent his first ball to the midwicket fence, against a dot and then got a single with a total of 30 runs off the Surge. Experiencing his work without wasting waste, Richardson delivered his next delivery to the back.
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo