Scorched! Perfect Perth surge to fourth BBL title

A stunning fight back from Laurie Evans and skipper Ashton Turner has propelled the Perth Scorchers to their fourth KFC BBL crown and a remarkable win against a besieged Sydney Sixers.

At 4-25 with Mitch Marsh, Colin Munro, Kurtis Patterson and Josh Inglis back in the sheds it looked like another remarkable win against all odds was on the cards for the Sixers.

But English import Evans, who Perth coach Adam Voges said before the game was close to being left out of the XI, and Turner resurrected the innings with a magnificent counter-attacking stand of 104 to claw the Scorchers back into the contest.

From there it was all one-way traffic with Perth only losing two more wickets at a run rate of 10.42 an over to post 6-171, with Evans finishing unbeaten on 76 from 41 balls, his highest score of the tournament.

It proved too much for the depleted Sixers batting line-up, who were reduced to just seven fully fit players from the original 18-player squad they had when the season started.

There were some nerves at the start from the Scorchers who, coming off a six-day break, were sent in and progressed steadily to 1-14 at the end of the four-over Powerplay before the wickets began to tumble.

Inglis (13) joined the in-form Patterson in the dugout and he was quickly followed by the most dangerous batter in the competition in Marsh and New Zealand power hitter Munro.

It was Australia's Test spinner Nathan Lyon (2-24) who was the chief destroyer, removing both Marsh (5) and Munro (1) in his first over as the Scorchers slumped to 4-25 in the sixth.

That was when Turner was joined by Evans and they shifted the momentum with a brilliant match-winning partnership across the next 10 overs.

Both Turner (54 off 35 balls) and Evans brought up their half centuries with powerful sixes over mid-wicket before veteran tweaker Steve O'Keefe (2-43) broke through to send the Scorchers skipper on his way.

But the seasoned English batter carried on, slamming four sixes as he lifted the Scorchers to a remarkable total of 6-171 that had earlier looked impossible. 

Young allrounder Hayden Kerr claimed his 25th wicket of the tournament with the key late scalp of Ashton Agar (15), taking him past Ben Dwarshuis as the highest wicket-taker for the Sixers in a single season.

In reply, yet another makeshift opening pair walked out to bat for the Sixers, but Challenger final hero Kerr (2), and replacement pool player Nick Bertus (15), fell in the first five overs.

It brought together veterans Daniel Hughes Moises Henriques who were playing through ankle and calf injuries respectively.

As skipper Henriques (7) and Dan Christian (3) came and went, the game rested largely on the bat of Hughes, who despite passing a pre-match fitness test appeared significantly hampered running between the wickets.

It was his downfall in the end, caught short on 42 (33) by Marsh attempting a single in the 13th over as the Sixers slumped to 6-77.

It was eight down four balls later when Abbott holed out in the deep and Dwarshuis was caught behind in consecutive deliveries from AJ Tye (3-15) as the Scorchers romped to victory by 79 runs in the 17th over, with the Sixers bowled out for 92.

It caps off a remarkable season from the Scorchers, who despite not being able to return home since early December due to the WA border closure, won 13 games and lost only three.

They can now call themselves the most successful club in the competition's 11-season history, adding the BBL|11 title to their BBL|03, BBL|04 and BBL|06 crowns.