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Five takes from Perth Scorchers vs Adelaide Strikers

Andrew Tye (centre) of the Scorchers celebrates dismissing John Hastings of the Stars during the Big Bash League (BBL) cricket match between the Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars at the WACA, in Perth, Tuesday, December 26, 2017. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Roar Guru
13th January, 2018
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The Perth Scorchers defeated the AdelaideStrikers by six wickets in Alice Springs to move back to the top of the BBL table. Here are my five takeaways.

1. Scorchers back on top
Perth leapt back to the top of the table with a six-wicket victory over Adelaide in Alice Springs yesterday. The Sixers surrendered top spot to their opponents after a poor batting performance saw them manage a paltry total of 112, giving them little chance of victory.

The Scorchers were in trouble at 4/43 in reply in the ninth over before Hilton Cartwright, with 47 not out, and Ashton Agar, with 26 not out, steadied the ship and guided Perth comfortably over the line.

Agar also claimed 3/9 with the ball as the Scorchers suffocated the Strikers, with Alex Carey playing a lone hand at the top of the batting order with 44.

Perth are now 6-2 and the Strikers are 5-2, with both sides still a big chance to host a home semi-final.

(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

2. Depth amazing in Perth
It’s amazing the depth in pace bowling options in this Scorchers line up. I wrongly wrote them off a bit at the start of the season, with both Nathan Coulter Nile and Jason Behrendorff injured as well as them missing a host of senior batsmen. However, Justin Langer has cultivated a culture where it’s very much next man up to the plate.

Joel Paris has bowled well in his return from injury and the relatively unknown Matt Kelly was excellent, claiming 2/13 from his three overs. The Scorchers are getting enough out of their batting once again to rely on their bowling controlling games for them, as they assert themselves as favourites to win what would be a remarkable fourth title from a sixth grand final appearance in eight seasons.

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3. BBL comes to Alice Springs
While the Traegar Park wicket probably wasn’t ideal for T20 cricket, it was great to see a match taken to Alice Springs. With the expanded format this season I think it is a great initiative from Cricket Australia to make each franchise take one game on the road and really promote the BBL and T20 cricket.

Watching games this season at all the big venues, the crowds have been fantastic once again, and seeing the number of young kids and families at the game proves what a fantastic tournament this is, so it’s great to see places outside of the main capital cities get the opportunity to see top-level cricket.

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4. Agar is developing nicely
Ashton Agar continues to develop very well as a cricketer who is sure to bounce back to the international arena over the next couple of years. Since his whirlwind debut for Australia in England as a 19-year-old Agar has toiled away in state cricket and is now a far more confident and accomplished cricketer than the raw youngster that debuted with 99 against England batting at number 11.

Agar has become a really good T20 bowler, and that wasn’t the case over the previous two seasons. He is also now becoming a senior member of the Scorchers middle batting order and can be relied upon in a tight run chase, as well as having the hitting power to propel some late order fury.

Agar was a clear man of the match last night, mixing his pace up and bowling very accurately to take 3/19 from four overs before once again showing composure with a busy innings with the bat

5. Strikers middle order needs to step up
If the Strikers want to win this BBL season, they need a couple of their senior batsmen to really step up in the absence of Travis Head. In fact the Strikers lost all ten wickets for 63, having been nicely placed at 0/49.

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While the wicket in Alice Springs wasn’t exactly the best for batting, there were opportunities for guys like Jonathan Wells, Jake Lehmann and Jono Dean to build an innings and get the Strikers to a competitive score.

Lehmann is a player the Strikers really need to perform, and his attempt to reverse paddle Agar that lobbed a catch was an ordinary shot which really accelerated the Strikers collapse.

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