Adelaide Strikers captain Matthew Short led the way as his side pulled off the upset, crushing the previously unbeaten Perth Scorchers by nine wickets. Strikers had lost their last four games, but chased down 153 with 23 balls to spare to move up from the bottom of the table. Short (76* off 51) and Chris Lynn (50* off 33) put on 98 for the second wicket. Scorchers remained second, three points behind the table-toppers Brisbane Heat with a game in hand. The leading run-scorer in this season’s BBL, Short notched his fifth half-century of the season, hitting seven fours and four sixes. Two days after leaking 211 against Scorchers in Perth, Adelaide fielded an extra spinner, bringing in leg spinner Lloyd Pope. Taking pace off the ball paid off, with the spinners bowling 11 overs and taking three of the first four wickets, and the Scorchers notching just six fours to supplement their seven sixes. Three batters got a start, but no Scorchers player reached 40 as the side notched its lowest score of the season. Laurie Evans, who smashed 85 off 28 balls in the Scorchers’ win over the Strikers on Wednesday, was contained to six off his first 10 deliveries on Friday. Evans (29 off 21) didn’t get his strike rate up to 100 until his 13th ball.
