Hits & Misses: Perth Scorchers post record total and still lose as Brisbane Heat complete miracle chase

It was a night to forget for the bowlers at the Gabba as Perth Scorchers saw the Brisbane Heat blaze down the second-highest total in Big Bash history in dominant fashion. Here are our hits and misses Hits Renshaw’s ton of fun Matt Renshaw has been on a tear this summer that saw him make his ODI debut for Australia and was knocking on the door of Ashes selection as a potential opener. He hasn’t let that snub slow him down, as he brought up a maiden Twenty20 century off just 48 balls, having torn the Perth Scorchers attack to shreds. He got a life when Richardson marginally overstepped, but it was an astonishing innings as he and Wildermuth, who brought up his own sensational hundred, having averaged 13.6 to date, to put on the highest ever Big Bash partnership and achieve the biggest run chase in Big Bash history. Super Cooper reaches new heights Cooper Connolly averaged more than 50 in the last Big Bash season, but somehow he looks on track to go even better this year. After a match-winning 59 in game one, Connolly bludgeoned his way to 77 off just 37 balls, including a remarkable six sixes, most of them absolute monsters nearing or over 100m. It was his highest Twenty20 score and left the Heat with no answers as he scored all around the ground with his straight drives, the highlights. Connolly has now passed 35 in seven of his past eight innings for the Scorchers at an average strike rate of over 135 as he cements his status as one of the most damaging short-form batters in the country. He was also the Scorchers’ best bowler by a mile on a tough night across the board. Finn Allen’s uperdeckerr The purest of hits as Matthew Kuhnemann gave the Scorchers opener a hit me ball bowling to the short leg side boundary. Having got his eye in the previous delivery with a six through midwicket, the Heat spinner gave him another short ball, which he opened up to launch into the third tier at the Gabba. It would’ve been the shot of the night if not for Cooper Connolly’s straight six two overs later, holding the pose after depositing star paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi 92m straight down the ground to get his own upperdeckker It set the tone for a record-setting night where the Scorchers broke the record for the most sixes in an innings with 18 as they set the second-highest total in Big Bash history with their 6-257 behind only the Stars’ 2-273 in 2022 only for the Heat to overhaul it hours later. Misses Ouch for Couch He was the pick of the bowlers in the first game, but Brody Couch had no answers to Brisbane Heat’s onslaught as he went for an eye-watering 59 runs from his three overs. Who knows how much difference the wicket of Wildermuth would have made (see below), but it was absolute carnage as his short balls were smashed into the stands, and he could not execute the fuller ball. It was a problem for the entire Scorchers bowling attack who seemed unwilling to try for a yorker and instead hit into a pitch that was offering nothing. Only Connolly tried to execute the fuller plan and found the most success, but it came far too late as the Scorchers coughed up 11 wides to boot. Turner shells it After recovering from the loss of Munro’s first ball, Matt Renshaw and Jack Wildermuth were blazing the Heat along in the chase, with the ball disappearing to all parts of the ground Brody Couch had a tough introduction, giving up 22 runs in his first over and it was not going much better in his second, with Wildermuth launching him for two sixes. But then Wildermuth skied one high into the night sky with the Scorchers in desperate need of a breakthrough, only for captain Ashton Turner to spill the chance at mid-off. It wasn’t the easiest chance, but in the context of the game, it had to be taken as Scorchers fluffed their lines in the field. Marsh still yet to fire Since officially stepping away from the red ball game, the Australian Twenty20 captain has made an inauspicious start to his dedicated white-ball career. A duck in the season opener was followed up by three at the Gabba, picking out deep backward square off a Xavier Bartlett short ball. Marsh got a duck in his one game last season, that’s left Scorchers without a Marsh boundary since BBL11. The WA star did at least nail the shot, but he would love some sort of score soon as he looks a touch short of rhythm.