The experience of Callum Ferguson guided the Thunder over the line
Sydney Thunder 3 for 156 (Ferguson 61*, Davies 36, Behrendorff 1-32) beat Perth Scorchers 5 for 152 (M Marsh 52*, Bancroft 34*, Cutting 1-16) by seven wickets
An eye-catching debut from Ollie Davies and a notable comeback by Adam Milne were two of the standout performances for the Sydney Thunder as they marched to victory against a Perth Scorchers side who never really hit top gear.
The Scorchers labored to 3 for 56 at the midway mark of their innings and though Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Bancroft did a good job to take them above 150 it felt as though they were always playing catch up.
The chase had some tricky moments at the start, but the partnership of 75 in seven overs between 20-year-old Davies and captain Callum Ferguson put the Thunder on course before Ben Cutting played his part in closing out the game.
Heated Tye
The Thunder had not gained much early impetus to their chase having lost Alex Hales for a first-ball duck – bowled by a beauty from Jason Behrendorff – and Usman Khawaja heaved into the leg side shortly after being given a life courtesy of an awful umpiring decision when he hit the cover off a drive against AJ Tye. The Scorchers, and especially Tye, could barely believe the decision with the umpiring telling the bowler he thought the bat had hit the ground. Tye was still ticking at the end of the over and had to be told to calm down. However, it was far from the first poor decision in this tournament that will reignite the debate over the lack of the DRS.
More to follow…
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo