Shock home loss to Sixers rocks depleted Scorchers' title-defence hopes

When Laurie Evans signed off from the BBL season, having smashed 72 off 34 balls, he received a standing ovation from a rowdy 33,412 Optus Stadium crowd in the mood for celebrating.

Moments later, Cooper Connolly and Nick Hobson - the unexpected heroes from Perth Scorchers' epic title victory last season, achieved with a win over Brisbane Heat - pummelled a ragged Sydney Sixers attack to lift the defending champions to a mighty score of 197 for 4. It was Scorchers' second-highest total of the season and they appeared set to continue a recent domination of Sixers, who had won just once from five matches on the harder and bouncier Optus Stadium surface.

The confidence on the parochial west coast seemed justified with the prevailing feeling that Scorchers would clinch the all-important second spot and then knock over top-placed Heat in the Qualifier before once again staging another final at their home fortress.

But, by the end of an astonishing match, with endless twists and turns in the latest chapter of a remarkable rivalry, Scorchers were left stunned by a brilliant chase led by opener Daniel Hughes and finished calmly by skipper Moises Henriques.

The normally heaving Optus Stadium was reduced to silence with Scorchers' bid for a historic hat-trick of titles having to go through a much more difficult route. Scorchers face surging Adelaide Strikers in the knockout final at home on Saturday, and if they get through that will have to play either Heat or Sixers on the road.

The result means Scorchers will not host the final. Before losing to Sixers, Scorchers had won 17 of their last 18 matches at home. It's a result that has provided a tonic for their rivals.

"It's so hard to come here and win, especially for a semi-final or final, which is what we don't have to do now," Hughes said. "We don't have to come back to Perth to win the competition, so that was a big motivation for us."

Scorchers' title defence has undoubtedly been rocked, but this veteran group has overcome significant hurdles in their previous title runs. They spent almost all of BBL 11 on the road due to Covid-19 restrictions and last season were hit hard by injuries and withdrawals, including losing Evans, who had his contract terminated following a positive drugs test.

"I thought we batted beautifully... it [the target] was above par and they had to bat exceptionally well to chase it down. And that's what they did," Scorchers coach Adam Voges said. "It's taken a pretty special performance and the last ball of the game [to beat us].

"We're disappointed. But we know our fate now."

Like the other finals teams, Scorchers have been impacted by a clash with the upcoming ILT20 in the UAE. Evans, who hit 292 runs at 58.4 with a strike rate of 189.61 this season, took the flight for Dubai on Wednesday morning and left a major hole in a middle-order that will continue to be without injured skipper Ashton Turner.

Scorchers' batting resources might be further stretched with opener Steve Eskinazi undergoing scans after retiring hurt early in his innings following a blow to his knuckles.

It points to late signing Marcus Harris being an almost certain call-up against Strikers. Having recently missed out on a Test recall, Harris returns after playing 14 matches for Scorchers from 2014-16.

"With Marcus... he's played with us before. He knows the conditions, the players, and he's fit in seamlessly already," Voges said. "That was a big part of the decision-making to bring someone in who knows our group and we know him pretty well.

"We're looking forward to seeing what he can do. I would imagine that he'll come in on Saturday. And hopefully he can have an impact."

Having loaded up on bowling for much of the season, Scorchers reverted to stocking up their batting by including Hobson for their last two games. Hobson has grabbed his opportunities with powerful late hitting against Heat and Sixers, but Scorchers were exposed with the ball during an unusually sloppy performance from their frontline quicks.

Scorchers might be tempted to recall seamer Matt Kelly, who has been a reliable option over the years. He has missed the entire domestic season so far due to a quad injury, but has recovered and is available for selection.

"We've got Matt Kelly sitting on the sidelines and ready to go, so we can bring him in if we choose to," Voges said. "It's nice having that power-hitting that Nick Hobson has been able to provide for us, but we'll sit down and just have a look at what things look like and come up with an eleven from that."

After their normally miserly quicks missed their lengths, especially speedster Lance Morris who leaked 48 runs from four overs, Scorchers face the daunting task of curbing Strikers captain Matthew Short.

Short, who hit the most runs ever in a ten-match BBL regular season, blasted 76 not out and 74 against Scorchers this season with the teams splitting their pair of games. He looms as key in a game expected to attract 45,000 fans to Optus Stadium.

"We need to make sure that we execute a bit better because he's clearly the form player and best player in the competition at the moment," Voges said. "He'll be a big deciding factor on Saturday."