Bowlers' strangle wins it for Scorchers

A stranglehold by the Perth Scorchers bowlers dried up the boundaries for Hobart Hurricanes as they aimed for the final push in their chase but fell comfortably short of a middling target at Bellerive Oval. Needing 49 runs off the last five overs, and with a set Michael Hill batting on 54, Hurricanes failed to score even one boundary and hobbled to 123 for 7, 18 short of Scorchers' total.

Hill top-scored with 64 off 55 balls and was dismissed in the 19th over, mistiming a big hit to midwicket. The equation by that time - 24 off 9 balls - had already slipped out of control for the home side. A couple of wickets in the last over bowled by Yasir Arafat handed Scorchers the two points that propelled them to the top of the points table.

Scorchers' control was such that apart from Hill and Tim Paine, none of the batsmen was able to hit a boundary, while Ben Dunk, Shoaib Malik and George Bailey were all dismissed for single-digit scores. The early damage was done by Jason Behrendorff, who dismissed both the openers, and the rest ensured there was no escape for Hurricanes.

Scorchers did not have a good start to the game. They lost their openers within five overs and were 4 for 67 in the 11th over. A 62-run stand for the fifth wicket between Sam Whiteman and Ashton Turner revived the innings, and despite Scorchers losing three wickets in the last over, they had a defendable total.