Twitter Reactions: Scorchers extend their streak as Sam Billings' valiant knock goes in vain

Perth Scorchers have extended their winning streak to four after they managed to restrict Sydney Thunder to 168 in the 34th encounter of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Sam Billings
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Sam Billings. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Perth Scorchers have extended their winning streak to four after they managed to restrict Sydney Thunder to 168 in the 34th encounter of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21. Callum Ferguson took a bold step as he elected to field upon winning the toss, however, the Scorchers’ batsmen ensured to capitalize and make the Thunder pay for their call.

The initiation of the innings for the Scorchers was slightly nervy as the twin strikes of Brendan Doggett in the third over removed Liam Livingstone (3 from 8) and Jason Roy (14 from 10), who both towered short deliveries to be caught by wicketkeeper Sam Billings. Reduced to 18/2, Colin Munro and Josh Inglis joined hands as they added 43 for the third wicket. However, neither of them was able to break free and ate up 40 deliveries before Inglis (20 from 18) became Doggett’s third scalp.

Middle-order blitz empowers Scorchers 

Mitchell Marsh showed some intent as he slapped a couple of boundaries, although he failed to bank on his start and holed out to Chris Green at backward point off Doggett, who ended up bagging four wickets. Struggling to gain momentum, Munro (50 from 41) upped the ante alongside Ashton Turner as the Scorchers invoked the Power Surge, and picked 17 from the 15th over of Adam Milne.

The tide changing moment was the following over, which witnessed an assault by Turner, who slammed a couple of fours and as many sixes to thrash Chris Green for 23 runs. Turner raced off to 31 from just 13 before Nathan McAndrew got him caught by Tanveer Sangha, however, Jhye Richardson, who slammed 20 from just 8, and Aaron Hardie (19 from 11), did not allow the Thunder to come back into the game.

Sam Billings’ valiance goes in vain

Chasing 186 for the win, the Thunder entirely lost their way and found themselves 46 for 4, before Sam Billings and Ben Cutting tried to rescue them, but to no avail. Jhye Richardson was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball as he bagged 4 for 24, whereas he was well-assisted by Andrew Tye and Jason Behrendorrf, who got a couple each. Continuous loss of wickets and lack of partnership for the Thunder meant that they lagged consistently and failed to keep the required run rate in check.

Usman Khwaja slammed four boundaries and a six in his 12-ball 26, however, he top-edged a length delivery from Richardson for Inglis to catch it. His dismissal opened the gates for Behrendorff, who got rid of both Alex Hales and Callum Ferguson cheaply, whereas Alex Ross fell prey to an embarrassing mix up and was dismissed run out for a duck without even facing a delivery. Sam Billings infused some hope through his valiant knock of 83 from 48, featuring 8 boundaries and four sixes, adding 83 in 54 deliveries for the fifth wicket alongside Ben Cutting, who scored 31 from 27.

Despite having brought their team on track to some extent, once the partnership was broken by Tye, who got Cutting caught by Livingstone, the remaining ones fell quickly as Thunder were all out for 168, losing the game by 17 runs.

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