New Delhi: Ashes rivals Ian Bell and Mitchell Johnson lead the way as Perth Scorchers went passed Adelaide Strikers by 48 runs in the Big Bash league match at Perth.
Ian Bell made full use of the early reprieve and went on to score 61 off 42 deliveries. He was well supported by Mitchell Marsh and Ashton Turner, who slammed 31 and 44 respectively to guide Scorchers to 197 in their allotted 20 overs.
It was up to the bowlers to defend and they responded in style, lead by Mitchell Johnson on his Big Bash debut. Johnson returned with match figures of 3 for 33. Opening the bowling, his teammate David Willey did a fine job to put the brakes on Strikers as they never really threatened to get the target.
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Strikers captain Brad Hodge played a fighting innings of 55 before being cleaned up by Johnson.
Coming in to bat No. 9, Kane Richardson made a quickfire 45 but it was not enough as Strikers fell short by 48 runs.
Apart from Mitchell Johnson’s fiery spell and Ian Bell’s attractive strokeplay, it was Kieron Pollard’s amazing reaction after getting the opposition captain Adam Voges out caught that became the highlight of the day.