Twitter Reactions: Scorchers fall short as Sydney Thunder steal away a thrilling win

Thunder registered their second win in the tournament as Scorchers' lost their second.

By Suraj Shukla

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Cameron Bancroft vs Sydney Thunder
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Cameron Bancroft of the Scorchers bats. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

On a day when a number of catches were dropped coupled with a lot of goof-ups on the field, the heroics of Hilton Cartwright and Cameron Bancroft fell just 3 runs short. Sydney Thunder’s spinners bowled brilliantly during the middle overs and made sure the required rate was high almost all the time. Earlier it was Usman Khawaja who marked his return with a thumping 85.

With numbers of Australian players leaving for the national duties – ODI recruits, a number of players were added to the squad – Test players. Khawaja fresh from his century in the Ashes was added to the Thunder squad while for Scorchers, Cameron Bancroft was added in the side and handed the responsibility as a keeper.

Thunder’s skipper Shane Watson after winning the toss opted to bat first. Khawaja had a magnificent last season of the Big Bash and he announced his return with a bang as he punished Mitchell Johnson and William Bosisto during the powerplay. Thunder scored 55 in the powerplay while they lost the wicket of Kurtis Patterson who became the victim of BBL debutant Matthew Kelly.

Khawaja continued his brilliant run and reached his 50 when he smashed Tim Bresnan for a six after the wicket of skipper Watson. He got to his half century in just 31 deliveries. He smashed Ashton Agar for another six in the next over. Agar returned for his 4th over and sent the left-hander back to the pavilion before he could do more damage. Khawaja got out for 81 which came in just 55 deliveries, he stuck 8 fours and 4 sixes.

Scorchers’ bowlers pulled themselves back in the last five overs as Thunder’s could only manage 38 runs and were stopped at 175/4 after the 20 overs. The 12-run last over helped them reach that total as Ben Rohrer deposited Kelly for a six in that over.

Kiwi star Mitchell McClenaghan dented the run chase early when he removed Scorchers’ opener Bosisto in the 2nd over of the innings. Disciplined bowling from Gurinder Sandhu and Chris Green didn’t let the batsmen score freely during the powerplay. Green removed Michael Klinger while Sandhu removed Ashton Turner during the powerplay with Scorchers’ scorecard reading 34/3.

Cartwright along with wicketkeeper-batsman Bancroft steadied the ship composing a 50-run stand but that came comparatively slower than the required rate. Bancroft completed his half-century with a six and four in Green’s over. Fawad Ahmed and Arun Nair bowled brilliantly as the two gave just 45 runs in their 8 overs. Ahmed then rattled the stumps of Scorchers’ skipper Adam Voges with a wrong’un.

Green returned to bowl the 17th over and saw McClenaghan drop a chance. 19 came from that over as both Bancroft and Cartwright smacked a six each. Scorchers’ needed 31 runs from the last two overs as Sandhu returned for the penultimate over of the game. He mixed his pace and just gave 7 runs.

McClenaghan’s last over saw Cartwright smack a massive six and under-edge one behind the wicket. A no-ball made things difficult for the Thunder but the big man kept his cool on the last ball where Cartwright needed a six to win the game or a 4 for the super over.

Here are the tweets and reactions:

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BBL 2023-24Australia