Marsh wins it for Scorchers in thriller

Cricket365
September 25, 2014

The Perth Scorchers pulled off a cracking win against the Dolphins in their Champions League T20 clash on Saturday, with Mitchell Marsh smashing two sixes off the last two balls to record the win by six wickets.

The Dolphins recovered from a poor start to record 164 for seven, thanks to an unbeaten Khaya Zondo half ton. The Scorchers then looked off the pace and needed 16 off the last over, and then 12 off the last two balls, which Marsh secured.

The South African T20 champions won the toss and chose to bat, which was a disastrous choice. They were two down in the first over, as Joel Paris bowled Morne van Wyk and Cody Chetty with consecutive deliveries.

This left then with four runs on the board and two down, and it got worse in the second over. Cameron Delport hit two boundaries before also departing, to Jason Behrendorff, the score on 12.

Keshav Maharaj and Zondo then pushed the score to 45, before Behrendorff also claimed Maharaj’s wicket for 29, caught by Paris. Zondo then continued with Daryn Smit, who added 21, and then teen scores from Andile Phehlukwayo and Robbie Frylink.

Zondo’s 63 not out off 50 balls ensured a defendable score and he would have been gutted that his efforts went in vain, despite a good bowling effort from his side right until the end.

Craig Simmons opened the batting and recorded 48, while Sam Whiteman bagged 45. Adam Voges and Ashton Agar were out cheaply, as the Scorchers lost wickets just as they got the scoreboard ticking.

It seemed as though the Dolphins had done enough, even with Marsh batting, as he was uncharacteristically sluggish for most of his knock. But he found the spark right when it was needed, as Frylink sent down two full tosses that went for maximum.