Perth Scorchers 1 for 195 (Munro 114*, Bancroft 45) beat Adelaide Strikers 146 (Short 63, Behrendorff 3-22) by 49 runs
Colin Munro smashed his maiden BBL century to power Perth Scorchers to a convincing victory over Adelaide Strikers in a match played behind closed doors in Sydney and which didn't finish until after midnight local time.
The New Zealand import overcame a nervous start to belt a ragged Strikers attack and finish with the highest individual score in Scorchers' history.
Strikers never looked like chasing 196 against a sharp Scorchers attack, who won their home fixture played in the neutral venue of Sydney Showgrounds due to Western Australia's strict border controls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Munro smashes maiden BBL ton
Talk about making the most of your chances. Munro led a charmed life ever since the first over when a strong lbw shout from Dan Worrall was turned down - the first of several head-scratching decisions from the umpires.
His lucky night continued on 11 when Rashid Khan dropped a sitter as Munro shelved the big shots and built a steady platform with Cameron Bancroft reminiscent of Scorchers' heyday under Justin Langer.
Perhaps he should buy a lotto ticket because Munro was also dropped by Worrall when on 58, but eventually the powerful left-hander made the sloppy Strikers pay.
He smashed 44 runs off 15 balls in the last four overs and not even Rashid could stop the carnage with Munro belting the spin maestro for consecutive sixes in the 18th over.
Munro reached his ton in the next over and let out a huge roar which echoed around the empty stands as he fist pumped the air in an emotional celebration. After being left out of New Zealand's T20 World Cup campaign, Munro has had a point to prove that his international career is not over.
His resounding statement was punctuated when he whacked the final delivery of the innings off Peter Siddle for a massive six to re-write Scorchers' record-books.
Short provides hope for Strikers' batting order
With newly-minted Ashes hero Travis Head and Alex Carey set to miss the BBL, Strikers' batting order lacks firepower and so proved the case during their two matches against Melbourne Renegades where they posted middling totals.
While they never seriously threatened to chase down the huge total, Matt Short is starting to materialise as an opener with substance after playing a lone hand with 63.
He's showcased glimpses of talent over the years and did likewise against Renegades with cameos. Against Scorchers' strong attack, Short looked in command and played maturely around the wicket to provide faint hope for his team.
Unfortunately, he lacked support and Short holed out having to go for broke once he crossed fifty. But the signs are good and Strikers might have more reason for optimism with 20-year-old debutant Thomas Kelly smashing an eye-catching 26 off 15 balls.
Their glum batting stocks appear just a little bit brighter.
Hatzoglou proves his worth
In a sub plot, the match pitted new Scorchers signing Peter Hatzoglou against his predecessor Fawad Ahmed, who was making his Strikers debut having played two seasons with Perth.
Scorchers did not offer Fawad a contract with their eye toward 23-year-old Hatzoglou, who starred last season for Renegades after being plucked from obscurity.
Fawad, 39, had limited impact to finish with the tame figures of 0 for 33 in contrast to Hatzoglou who played a starring role. The legspinner bowled superbly in the middle overs and menaced through dip and skid off the wicket to finish with 1 for 26, including the key wicket of Jonathan Wells.
It's early days but, for now, Hatzoglou is justifying his signing.
Match played under strange conditions
This match was meant to be staged at the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium but instead shifted to behind closed doors at a neutral venue in Sydney due to Western Australia's strict border controls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was due to start at 9.30pm local time but delayed by 15 minutes because the earlier Hurricanes-Sixers match went over schedule. There was no noise in the empty stands except the usual pop tunes blasting from the speakers while canned crowd noise accompanied the television broadcast.
The match wrapped up at 12.30am in surely one of the latest finishes seen in cricket anywhere in the world.
