Scorchers win toss, bat first against Sixers in BBL

Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques has helped his team avert a late disaster and secure the coveted BBL finals double-chance, beating the Perth Scorchers in a last-ball thriller at Optus Stadium.

After English import Laurie Evans’ swashbuckling 72 off 34 balls steered the Scorchers to 4-197 on Tuesday night, the Sixers lost 4-5 off seven balls to nosedive from 3-181 to 7-186 before Henriques (47no off 20 balls) stepped up and sealed a gripping, vital five-wicket win.

The second-ranked Sixers will play top-of-the-table Brisbane Heat in Friday’s Qualifier in Carrara, while the Scorchers, who slipped to third, will host the Adelaide Strikers in the sudden-death Knockout on Saturday.

 Opener Daniel Hughes laid the platform for the Sixers’ win in Perth with an impressive 43-ball 74. Image by James Ross/AAP PHOTOS 

Opener Daniel Hughes (74) anchored the Sixers’ innings and was well supported by Josh Philippe (32) and James Vince (22).

With 17 required off the last two overs and seven wickets in the shed the chase was under control before Jason Behrendorff’s 19th over reaped 3-3.

Ben Dwarshuis then fell at the start of the 20th, set-batter Henriques watching the calamity helplessly from the non-striker’s end.

Henriques finally got on strike with 11 needed off the last four balls and hit opposition skipper Aaron Hardie for 2-6-2-4 to stun the Scorchers, who had won six of their past seven against the Sixers and 17 of 18 at their Perth fortress.

“It’s nice to get the win and for our batters to get a score above 200,” Henriques said.

“It was a really good performance and gives us that second chance in the finals.

“We don’t often come to Perth and win so to win like that, it was just a great game of cricket.”

 Laurie Evans signed off on a fine BBL campaign for the Scorchers with a typically belligerent 72. Image by Richard Wainwright/AAP PHOTOS 

Earlier, the Scorchers stalled before launching late, blasting 2-131 off their last 10 overs after being 2-66 from their first 10.

Evans was the key, signing off on an impressive campaign with another whirlwind knock, during which he took Hayden Kerr for 4-6-4-4-4 in one over.

Evans will miss the upcoming finals as he heads to the United Arab Emirates for the IL20 and received a standing ovation when walked off after lofting Dwarshuis (2-23) to Jordan Silk, completing his summer as a Scorcher with 292 runs at 58.40 and a strike-rate of 189.61.

Sam Whiteman (17) gloved a catch behind and Stephen Eskinazi (7) retired hurt with a hand injury, both in the powerplay, before Evans and Hardie went about setting the Sixers a stiff target, that they just edged past.