Scorchers XI end GSL campaign with stunning win

After looking beaten on several occasions in the encounter, spin bowling quintet Akeal Hosein, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, D’Arcy Short and Sufyan Moqim led the side to a remarkable victory.

As was the case 24 hours earlier, the Scorchers XI were sent into bat by the home side and found themselves under pressure early.

The Scorchers XI lost Sam Fanning, Andre Fletcher, Joel Curtis and Usman Khan inside the powerplay to leave them precariously placed at 4-36.

When captain Turner departed in the seventh over, the Scorchers XI were 5-41.

South African middle order batter Dian Forrester and Short put on 35 runs for the sixth wicket to generate some momentum during the middle stages of the innings.

Momentum then shifted back to the home side when Mohammad Nabi took three wickets in the 13^th over of the innings to leave the Scorchers XI in trouble again at 8-78.

After making an unbeaten 23 earlier in the tournament, Brody Couch provided another valuable contribution with the bat, belting seven boundaries in his 43 off 30 balls.

Couch’s efforts, which later saw him recognised as Player of the Match, helped the Scorchers XI to a competitive 135.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz got the Warriors off to the perfect start in their reply, hitting 42 off 16 deliveries before he fell to Forrester in the fourth over thanks to a clever piece of work from Sam Fanning on the boundary.

The Scorchers XI were able to take wickets at regular intervals after the initial breakthrough, eventually dismissing the Warriors for 121 in the 17^th over.

Turner equalled his previous best T20 bowling figures of 3-20, while Moqim proved a handful for the Warriors with his economical 2-18 off four overs.

After conceding 23 runs in his first over, Agar fought back strongly to finish with 2-29 and sealed the win when Shimron Hetmeyer chopped the first ball of his third over on to the stumps.

The Scorchers XI finished their inaugural GSL campaign with one win but were competitive in all four matches they played.

Defeats by 16 runs, five runs and one wicket in the first three matches meant the side narrowly missed out on a place in Saturday's Qualifier.

Fletcher’s 86 runs at 21.50 saw him finish as the Scorchers XI’s leading run scorer in tough conditions.

Moqim and Couch finished as the side’s leading wicket takers with six apiece.