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Perth Scorchers captain Ashton Turner reveals why he chose to bowl first against Brisbane Heat

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Bonnie RaynorThe West Australian
VideoBig Bash: A brilliant reflex catch from Ashton Turner has seen Glenn Maxwell depart for his third duck of the season.

For eight matches in a row before yesterday’s clash against Brisbane, the Perth Scorchers batted first and won seven of those eight matches.

The only match they didn’t win in that streak was against the Sydney Sixers, where they were 1-104 at the halfway mark of their batting innings, only going to post a sub-par total of 163.

However in that clash - and the other seven matches batting first - openers Liam Livingstone and Jason Roy have helped the men in orange off to an absolute flying start, with no scoreboard pressure.

So when Ashton Turner won the toss at Adelaide Oval yesterday, on a brilliant batting deck, the obvious choice would’ve been to bat first.

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However the recalled Australian allrounder cleverly saw more value in his batting line-up being forced to perform under scoreboard pressure - given they hadn’t had to do that since their 71-run loss to the Strikers on December 28.

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“That’s some good analysis there, I’m impressed,” Turner said, when asked about the decision to bowl first.

“You hit the nail on the head. We’ve been batting first a lot and it’s something we feel really comfortable doing.

“A big part of the reason to bowl first yesterday was, I thought it would be a good opportunity in a game that was important, but wasn’t do-or-die for us.

“So it was a good opportunity for us to try and chase down a total should we have to do it in an important game in the back-end of the season.”

Despite a brilliant 26-ball 54 from Mitch Marsh, the Scorchers fell agonisingly short on the final ball of the innings.

But the Scorchers take a lot of confidence from the result, believing it shows they can take games deep under pressure, when they looked to be dead and buried.

LISTEN TO TURNER’S COMMENTS FROM 35 MINS VIA THE LINK ABOVE

The 28-year-old said the batting group has spoken about chasing big totals under pressure and although they didn’t win yesterday, Turner achieved what he wanted to when he chose to bowl first.

“I think our batting particularly in the last ten overs of innings batting first has been as good as any team in the competition barring a hiccup against the Sixers at Manuka Oval,” Turner explained.

“We’ve spoken a little bit in the group about ‘Are we able to do that chasing a total with the scoreboard pressure? And ‘Are we able to go about it in the same way batting first as we’ve been giving ourselves a really good platform with no scoreboard pressure batting first.’

“At the back end of the innings, guys have been doing a great job.

“But quite often you feel like chasing a big total, you need to get the runs in the first 10 overs and you need to get off to a good start.

“I was impressed with how we timed our run yesterday even though we didn’t win.

“It gave ourselves every opportunity to be able to do that. Without winning, I think we took as much confidence from chasing as we possibly could’ve yesterday.”

The Scorchers will travel to Canberra tomorrow to face the Sixers in Saturday night’s qualifying final at Manuka Oval.

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