Perth Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner missed a golden opportunity to score his maiden T20 century as he did not get the strike for the final three balls of the innings in Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26 clash against Sydney Thunder.
Turner smashed two sixes off the first two balls of the final over and then took a single. He walked up to his batting partner Ashton Agar to go for the big hits instead of giving him back the strike. Agar found a boundary and lost his wicket on the next ball. Then, the new batter Joel Paris lost his wicket as well.
Had Turner got the strike, he would’ve completed his century, the third-fastest in Big Bash League (BBL) history after Craig Simmons and Mitchell Owen's 39-ball tons and Glenn Maxwell, Josh Brown's 41-ball tons.
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This is Turner’s career best T20 score. His previous best T20 score was 84 not out. This is also his 17th fifty in the format. The 32-year-old completed 4,000 runs in T20s. He averages nearly 25 and scores at a strike rate of over 140 in the format.
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Turner walked in to bat when Perth Scorchers were 34/3 in the sixth over. Turner finished the powerplay overs with two consecutive fours. In the ninth over, he targeted Chris Green, hitting him for three sixes and a four. In the 12th over, he reached his fifty from just 22 balls.
Aaron Hardie and Turner went berserk in the slog overs, scoring 35 runs off the power surge. In the final two overs, Turner smashed three sixes but couldn't reach his century.
Not shortlisted for min-auction
Turner did not go under the hammer in the mini-auction. The last time he played the IPL was in the 2024 edition. He was roped in by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for his base price of Rs 1 crore. He played just two games and scored 21 runs. Earlier, he played for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2019 edition. From four games, he scored three runs. He recorded three consecutive ducks.