Perth Scorchers 173 for 3 (Bancroft 76*, Hardie 57) beat Brisbane Heat 171 for 9 (Munro 45, Brown 34, Kelly 2-28) by seven wickets
Cameron Bancroft and Aaron Hardy broke a half-century streak to lead the Perth Scorchers to a seven-wicket victory over the Brisbane Heat at Optus Stadium.
In response to his 9-171 win for the Heat, the Scorchers scored the winning goal with his 21 balls remaining, thanks to big shots from Bancroft (76 of 48) and Hardy (57 of 33). reached.
Bancroft was playing his third BBL game of the season after missing Faff du Plessis and Adam Rhys for much of the season. But with Du Plessis joining SA20 and Lys fading after a run of terror, Bancroft has emerged as a key player in the Scorchers’ bid for back-to-back titles.
Bancroft cracked seven fours and two sixes, and combined with Hardy he took a 111-run winning streak and set the stage for victory. Hardy was brutal with five fours and three sixes before being out in 12 overs.
As a result, the Scorchers returned to the top spot, and the Heat won just his two out of his first eight games to finish seventh.
The Heat got off to a dream start to the game thanks to the transfer of Colin Munro. Munro, who will be at the ILT20 next week, hit 3 4s and 3 6s en route to 45 of 26 balls. He paired with Josh Brown (21 to 34 balls) to put the Heat up 0-for-81 halfway through the eighth over. However, the Scorchers’ offense hit back hard, with Andrew Ty (37-3), Matt Kelly (28-2) and Lance Morris (40-2) leading to a 9-90 collapse. The Heat scored just 25 points from their last four overs and lost three wickets in their final over, a quest for a quick run failed to death.
Morris hit 16 in the first over, but the speed demons rebounded on Munro and Jimmy Pearson’s scalps (19 to 23 balls). Morris’ return from Test team duties has allowed him to offset Richardson’s loss to Jay, who is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks with a hamstring injury.