Allen blasts 101 as explosive Scorchers end Renegades' slim final hopes

Finn Allen dismantled Melbourne Renegades with a muscular century as Perth Scorchers moved a step closer to finishing on top of the BBL ladder after another explosive batting display on the road.

The one-sided result at Marvel Stadium ended Renegades' slim finals hopes, even as the power-laden Scorchers are firming as the title favourites. After the door was opened thanks to Hobart Hurricanes' unfathomable home loss to Brisbane Heat on Wednesday, Scorchers and Melbourne Stars will battle on Saturday in Perth for the top spot that secures two home finals.

Allen's 101 off 53 balls completely dominated Scorchers' innings as he whacked eight of the team's 16 sixes. Scorchers continued their batting assault away from home, having struck 200-plus totals in all five games on the road.

Allen did receive some luck after being dropped on 8 and 37, but he made Renegades pay and targeted the region down the ground to devastating effect. Scorchers did not miss a beat without Josh Inglis, who was rested under a Cricket Australia workload management plan.

Chasing 220, Renegades needed in-form Josh Brown to get off to a flyer, but he fell lbw for a third-ball duck to left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly in the opening over. The pressure was on Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has endured another tough tournament, but his bid to finish on a high started with three sixes off his first five balls. He scored 35 of Renegades' 40 runs in the powerplay before launching legspinner Luke Holt for his fifth six.

But Fraser-McGurk's 18-ball 42 ended on the next delivery when he holed out to hand Holt a maiden BBL wicket.

Mohammad Rizwan, who was retired out without an injury against Sydney Thunder earlier in the week, skied his fourth ball to continue his rough tournament. Harry Dixon had to retire hurt after the seventh over, having been struck on the neck by a brute of a short ball from Mahli Beardman.

Renegades were never in the hunt despite the best efforts of opener Tim Seifert, who hit 66 off 43 balls until his dismissal in the 16th over.

Scorchers exacted revenge after a heart-breaking home loss last week, where they fell to a last-ball six by Oliver Peake, who is currently in Namibia, where he's preparing to captain Australia at their Under-19 World Cup opener on Friday.

Earlier, Scorchers had remarkably lost the bat flip for the eighth straight game, but again enjoyed batting first. After four dot balls, Allen exploded when he whacked a short ball from left-arm spinner Hassan Khan over the deep-midwicket boundary.

Mitchell Marsh traded blows with Allen and countered movement off the surface by bludgeoning quicks Brendan Doggett and Gurinder Sandhu into the crowd. Renegades were left despondent when Allen carved Sandhu to deep cover only for the ball to slip through the fingers of Dixon.

Sandhu was left flustered, and his mood soured further when he subsequently dropped Allen in a hot chance on the edge of the ring. Sandhu somewhat made amends on the next delivery when he hung on to a skier from Marsh but it was only momentary relief for Renegades.

Allen reached his half-century off 34 balls, and then put the foot down in a stunning assault. Legspinner Adam Zampa, reportedly on the move from Renegades after the season, was also on the receiving end when he helplessly watched the ball sail down the ground for six.

Scorchers took the power surge at 86 for 1 after ten overs, and the move paid immediate dividends, with Allen walloping three consecutive sixes off Sandhu, capped by a 104m rocket down the ground. Having scored just seven runs in his past four innings, Connolly made a watchful start before smashing Will Sutherland for a couple of sixes. He then fell on 18, but Scorchers still racked up 34 runs in the power surge.

There was no stopping Allen, whose second half-century was reached in just 17 balls as he took off his helmet to celebrate a maiden BBL ton.