Scorchers vs Thunder, 22nd Match at Perth, BBL, Jan 03 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

That concludes our BBL activity for today. We appreciate your participation. I look forward to seeing you all again tomorrow. On behalf of Rashad, Thilak, and the entire ESPNcricinfo staff, I'm going to sign out till then.

Player of the Match Sherfane Rutherford: "First of all, I want to thank God for this opportunity. Playing in Australia is always a privilege. And yeah, it was a bit nervy for me to be honest. Even though I've been in this situation a few times. The way my tournament started wasn't the best, so I think it was just important for me to get it across the line tonight. (Record Scorchers crowd) Oh well, I think that was our plan as a team, you know, to just silence the crowd. We know they were against us. So it's always good to silence them and I think we did that well tonight. (Winning consecutive three games) Oh yeah, it's a great feeling! David Warner has brought a lot of vibe and energy to our team and I think this year the team is gelling well, everyone is having a good vibe. And I think in teams that have good vibe, the performance will always show on the field."

Losing two of their key players while fielding is a little unfortunate for the Sydney Thunder. They had concussion subs. Missed run-outs and half chances. Everything took place throughout this match! Nikitaras, the Thunder's opener, was out in the second over of the innings. Gilkes and Warner then gradually rebuilt the innings. The Thunders' run rate was raised by a couple of tight overs in the middle from Tye and Kelly. Hurst did some fine glove work from behind the stumps as Connolly removed Gilkes. Warner scored 49 runs in an amazing inning before being caught at deep square leg. At mid-off, Turner dropped a sitter. Behrendorff grabbed a blinder two balls later and celebrated by waving his two hands in the air like a bird in the direction of the crowded Perth gallery. We had a tight finish right up to the last second. It all came down to Sherfane Rutherford, who struggled with the bat throughout the tournament but gave his side the victory today! With a little bit of luck, Rutherford also made good advantage of Tye's constant full length bowling in the last over! Well, every little detail counts in these kinds of close games. Given that they were unable to capitalise on the death overs in the first innings, perhaps the Scorchers might have scored a few more runs. Or perhaps the outcome would have been different if those sitters, close runs, or half-chances had been taken. There are many ifs and buts, but in the end, it doesn't matter since Thunder won in front of a standing-room-full record crowd at Perth Stadium. The Sydney Thunder camp has yet to provide us with any updates about the two players, Bancroft and Sams. Let's wish them well and hope they get better soon.

Sydney Thunder won the match by 4 wickets

Right. 3 runs off the last ball, 2 runs for the super over

5 runs off 2 balls

15 runs off 6 balls, it's Tye against Rutherford

Karthik: "Captain Turner has had a shocker of a day - a duck, an expensive over while bowling and drops a sitter! Will Perth do an India and 'rest' him given his form so far?" Missed an easy run out too

28 runs off 18 balls, here's Morris now