Perth Scorchers: 146/7 (20/20 ov)

Adelaide Strikers: 147/9 (19.5/20 ov)

Adelaide Strikers won by 1 wicket (with 1 ball remaining)

Defending champions Perth Scorchers lost their Big Bash League opener in dramatic circumstances on Monday, with Adelaide Strikers prevailing in a tight run-chase whilst nine wickets down. Chasing 147 to win after Michael Klinger’s excellent 49 for the Scorchers, the visitors looked to be cruising to victory at 92/3 with the experienced pair of Brad Hodge and Kieron Pollard at the crease. However, a great over of bowling by Jason Behrendorff was followed by a collapse, and the Strikers looked to be struggling with seven required from three balls. However, out of nowhere the diminutive Adam Zampa slashed Yasir Arafat over mid-wicket for six to level the game, before sneaking the winning single.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat at their home ground, the WACA, the Scorchers got off to a steady start, managing 40/0 off the initial six over powerplay. However, the loss of Michael Harris (26) the ball after the powerplay ended was untimely, and his fellow opener, Englishman Michael Carberry, could not find any sort of fluidity in his innings of 27 off 35 deliveries.

Enjoying @carbs646 testing himself in the @BigBashLeague – trying to score runs without a bat = big balls #BBL04pic.twitter.com/ZSZ1wVAgTS — Craig Kieswetter (@kiesy_22) December 22, 2014

However, Michael Klinger anchored the innings excellently with his 49 from 33, and some late blows by spinning all-rounders Ashton Turner and Ashton Agar propelled the Scorchers up to 146/7, despite some good death bowling by the consistent Kane Richardson (3/31). Spinners Adam Zampa (1/30) and Johan Botha (1/25) were key in stopping the flow of runs, with the pair conceding just 55 runs in their combined eight overs.

In the five Big Bash League games at the WACA last year, the average first-innings score was 164, suggesting that the Scorchers were below-par at the half-way stage of the game, but with the ball turning a bit off the pitch, it looked as though Perth’s trio of spinners in Turner, Agar, and James Muirhead would have a crucial part to play.

All eyes were on Adelaide’s opening partnership at the start of the run chase, after a violent display of hitting from Tim Ludeman and Craig Simmons had propelled them to victory in the season’s curtain-raiser against the Melbourne Stars. Unfortunately for the Strikers, their fireworks could not be repeated; their powerplay ended at 43/2, with both openers having played comparatively subdued innings.

Despite Behrendorff managing to take both wickets in the first six overs, skipper Adam Voges had already used up three of the left-armer’s overs, and looked as though he would keep his return until the death. Despite Turner taking the wicket of Travis Head, Adelaide seemed to be in complete control with the dangerous pair of Brad Hodge and Kieron Pollard both hitting the ball well.

However, in the thirteenth over, the game was swung by a fantastic piece of captaincy by Voges. He brought back his main bowler in Behrendorff, who proceeded to dismiss both Pollard and Strikers’ captain Johan Botha, bringing the score to 96/5 after thirteen overs.

Adelaide then struggled to find a partnership, with Hodge playing well, but Alex Ross and Trent Lawford both falling at the other end for four runs each, but the Scorchers seemingly running out of bowlers. The eighteenth over might have looked to be another turning point, with the dangerman Hodge finally falling to leg-spinner Muirhead for 42, but the very next ball, Kane Richardson used his strength to flay a six over long-on, meaning the Strikers needed fifteen runs from twelve deliveries, with two wickets remaining.

Despite a convincing appeal for caught behind in the penultimate over, Adam Zampa survived the over, and even hit a boundary off the second ball, leaving the visitors with eight needed from the final over. Straightforward as that sounds, it must be considered that Zampa and Richardson had just 128 runs between them in T20 cricket before the match, and that Yasir Arafat, who is in fifth place for most T20 wickets ever, was to bowl the final over.

Arafat’s revered death bowling was on full show at the start of the over; he landed three consecutive yorkers, and, off the second of them, Kane Richardson was run out as the Strikers looked for a risky single. But with seven still needed off three deliveries, Zampa heaved the first six of his Twenty20 career over mid-wicket, before nudging a single to fine leg the next ball to give Adelaide a remarkable win.

The Scorchers will not be too disheartened with their defeat, given that in the past two season of the BBL, the eventual champions have lost their first game, but having come so close, it will have been a disappointing result. The Strikers, however, sit top of the table after two games, and look like an excellent side.