The Scorchers lost a nail biter last night at Optus Stadium, coming down to four required off the last ball for the Melbourne Renegades.
Youngster Ollie Peake led the batting charge hitting the final runs with a six and racking up a total of 42 off 30.
The defeat didn’t come without controversy, with an almost certain catch from Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner overturned.
The third umpire ruled the ball had hit the ground while Turner was not in control of his own movement and therefore the catch was incomplete.
Perth bowling coach Tim Macdonald spoke on last night’s thriller to Sports Breakfast this morning.
“I think Ashton said it perfectly, he always does, everyone knows that’s a catch everyday of the week and the only thing standing in the way is how the rules are written,” he said.
“When an incident like that happens it gets reviewed and I’m sure it will and it should be reviewed because everyone in the stadium knows that’s a catch.
“We were of the opinion that he had control and the ball didn’t touch the ground the first time he put his hand down and from what we understand it was the second time where he was definitely trying to protect himself, and he well and truly controlled it by then.”
Scorchers quick Joel Paris suffered a groin injury in his second over, exiting the field for the duration of the game and leaving Turner with a tough decision on picking who bowled the last.
“He’s tweaked a groin and we’ll get a scan today to see what the extent of that is. We’re hoping for the best because he’s been the heart and soul of our bowling line-up this tournament so it’d be a massive loss if he can’t continue,” he said.
“He’s bowled all the hard overs, he’s been our best defensive bowler, he’s taken wickets when we’ve needed them.
“I think it was definitely gonna be David Payne, Joel Paris and Aaron Hardie in the last three so it just would’ve been what order Ashton went with there… his captaincy has been brilliant, it’s probably taken him two or three games to learn this new bowling attack and where they best fit but after that it’s been pretty smooth sailing.”
Aaron Hardie was picked for the job and bowled a fantastic over, unfortunately getting hit for six off a full toss on the last ball.
Last night marked English medium-quick David Payne’s first game in the orange, showing he has plenty of tricks in his bag.
“He’s played 200 odd T20 matches around the world and he’s 34 years of age, he’s well experienced and he’s pretty durable too, he can bowl in all places of the game.”
“He can hit that mid 130 mark and make it swing a bit as well.”
“That’s why we picked him up at the draft, that’s why we were happy to get him at the backend of the tournament when you know guys are starting to get a bit tired.”
The Scorchers are set to take on the Strikers in Adelaide on Sunday, hoping to get Josh Inglis back from the test cricket team.
The conclusion of the Ashes today could see Travis Head and Alex Carey join the Adelaide line-up making Perth’s job on the road all the more challenging.
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