Scorchers flick the furnace back on

Perth Scorchers 7 for 197 (Bell 61, Turner 44*) beat Adelaide Strikers 9 for 149 (Hodge 56, Johnson 3-33) by 48 runsScorecard

Perth Scorchers opened their Big Bash season with a 48-run win at the WACA, racking up 197 for 7 before holding the Adelaide Strikers to 149 for 9 in defence. Ian Bell and Mitchell Marsh drove the innings past the halfway mark, before Ashton Turner finished it off with an unbeaten 44 off 19 balls.

Ben Dunk and Jay Weatherald may have put on a partnership of 133 in Adelaide’s so-nearly run chase against Brisbane Heat two days earlier, but they contributed one run between them against Perth. David Willey got them both after opening the bowling, and after three overs of the chase Adelaide were 2 for 7. That slipped to 3 for 15 in the last ball of the fourth, when Travis Head nicked Jhye Richardson behind off an extravagant cut.

Brad Hodge played a gem in resistance, including four consecutive fours from Richardson after the fall of Head, a cover slash for four to welcome Mitchell Johnson back to competitive cricket, before a top-edged flick for six off Andrew Tye. But Johnson got Kieron Pollard that same over, and Hodge’s eventual 56 off 33 balls wasn’t enough.

Bell tolled you so

Ian Bell was in ordinary form when he was squeezed out of the England Test team, but that middle order hasn’t …

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