Watch cricket star take 'amazing' catch to help Strikers win knockout Big Bash League final
- James Bazley takes screamer to seal Adelaide win
- Strikers fielder juggled the ball in the deep
- Perth Scorchers' three-peat dreams are now over
By James Cooney For Daily Mail Australia and Murray Wenzel For Australian Associated Press
Published: 22:45 GMT, 20 January 2024 | Updated: 22:45 GMT, 20 January 2024
James Bazley has taken an incredible catch to seal the Adelaide Strikers' shock win over the Perth Scorchers in the BBL knockout final on Saturday night.
Chasing 156 in the knockout final, the Scorchers were 0-38 before being rolled for 105 to end their chase for a third-straight BBL title.
Bazley produced a boundary line catch that he won't soon forget during the final wicket of Cooper Connolly.
He remained incredibly calm and took the catch, but couldn't secure it while in the field of play.
Bazley then proceeded to toss the ball in the air before landing outside the rope, before completing the catch moments later back inside the field of play.
Strikers fielder James Bazley had to step back into the field of play to secure the catch
'Amazing catch,' wrote one fan on X.
'That is something,' said another.
It was a second successive loss for the Scorchers at the one-time Optus Stadium fortress where they had tasted defeat just once in their previous 18 games.
The Strikers will play Brisbane on the Gold Coast on Monday, with the winners to face Sydney Sixers in an SCG final on Wednesday.
The visitors looked dead in the water at 4-48 in the 10th over after being sent in, but rallied to 7-155 despite the absence of star pair Chris Lynn and Adam Hose.
It proved to be more than enough for the Strikers, who spun a web around the Scorchers, leg-spinners Cameron Boyce (3-20) and Lloyd Pope (4-24) silencing the partisan crowd.
Missing Laurie Evans and Zak Crawley, the Scorchers' new-look batting unit were unable to fire despite debutant Sam Fanning's fluent 20-ball 31 offering a viable platform.
It was the introduction of leg-spin from both ends that turned the tide, Pope picking up Marcus Harris (eight) and Aaron Hardie (six) while Boyce dismissed Sam Whiteman (two) and Josh Inglis (12).
Lloyd Pope ripped through the Scorchers' middle order on Saturday night
The Perth Scorchers' Big Bash League three-peat dreams are now officially over
Captain Matt Short then dived to his left to dismiss Nick Hobson off his own bowling for four, before Ashton Agar's duck left the hosts 7-78.
Cooper Connolly (31 off 22 balls) hit out to give Perth some hope but Pope popped up again with wrong-uns that bowled AJ Tye (eight) and Jason Behrendorff for a duck to complete a devastating spell.
Connolly went down swinging, James Bazley calmly tapping a catch back to himself as he tight-roped the boundary to seal the win.
The host's pace and swing had them on top early on, Tye producing arguably the ball of the tournament to knock over in-form Short for a run-a-ball 13.
The veteran unexpectedly floated up a 112km/h slower ball that hooped back into Short - only one ball has swung more this BBL season, according to Fox Sports - to knock him over.
Jake Weatherald's blazing innings (56 off 32) was the rearguard Adelaide needed, Ben Manenti (23 off 20) and Henry Thornton (28 not out off 21) chiming in with crucial late runs.
'It's funny what can happen,' Boyce told Fox Sports.
'You're always hopeful; 150 is not a great score but it's the way our season's gone.
'The boys always had belief and ... we rode that wave in.
'Our plan was just to be different. A lot of teams come here pace-heavy and .. it can work against you.
'I'm rapt for Popey, we've been working really well together.'