Finn Allen ton books Scorchers' place in BBL Finals

Perth Scorchers became the third team to seal qualification for the Big Bash Finals having dismantled the Melbourne Renegades by 50 runs. The Scorchers have also thrown themselves a massive chance of taking the top spot in the league table. Meanwhile, the defeat has officially eliminated Renegades from the race for a spot in the final four.

Coming back to the contest, it was the Finn Allen show as the New Zealander scored 101 off 53 balls to power the Scorchers to 219 for 7 with the bat. Allen got underway with a six in the first over and didn't look back from there. He was fortunate that Harry Dixon let one go in the deep in the third over and made the most of his chance. Alongside Mitchell Marsh, the duo brought up the 50-run stand by the end of the sixth over.

Sam Elliott picked Marsh of his first ball but there was no stopping Allen from the other end. Three boundaries off Renegades captain Will Sutherland brought up his 50 off just 34 balls. The Scorchers activated the Power Surge in the 11th over and Allen smashed the first three balls off Gurinder Sandhu into the stands while Cooper Connolly teed off in the next with two boundaries and a six off Sutherland before cutting one straight to point as 34 runs came off the Power Surge for the Scorchers.

The three sixes had set the tone for Allen and he smashed Hassan Khan for 6,6,4 as he raced towards the three-figure mark. He reached his hundred off 51 balls with the final 50 runs coming in just 17 balls. He eventually holed out to long-on off Adam Zampa. Aaron Hardie (22 off 11), Ashton Turner (13 off 6) and Laurie Evans (21 off 11) chipped in with cameos to keep the tempo up and take the Scorchers past the 200-mark. Elliott, who had picked up Hardie in the middle, scalped two in the 19th over to end with figures of 4 for 28.

The chase never really took off for the Renegades. Connolly conceded one run and picked up the wicket of Josh Brown while David Payne gave away only four in the second over. Jake Fraser-McGurk brought some life into the contest as he slammed three sixes off Jhye Richardson and 16 runs off Payne's second over. After looking back to his best, Fraser-McGurk fell for 42 off 18 as he smashed a drag-down ball by Luke Holt to the long-off fielder. Mahli Beardman picked Mohammad Rizwan for three as the Pakistani's poor tournament continued.

Dixon retired hurt after being hit on the neck while Hassan Khan was Beardman's second wicket of the night. The wheels continued to fall off for the home side as Sutherland was bowled by the ever-impressive Connolly. Seifert held up one end for the hosts as he scored a 50 in decent time to give the Renegades a glimmer of hope. After a four and a six, he fell to Hardie as he holed out to long-on. Elliott was run-out in the next over before Sandhu and Brendan Doggett played out the last few overs as the Scorchers comfortably won by 50 runs.

Stars or Scorchers will now take the top spot as the two sides clash against each other on Saturday at the Optus Stadium while the Renegades have a dead rubber against the Adelaide Strikers earlier on the same day. The final spot in the Finals will be decided off in a virtual knockout clash involving Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers on the following day.

Brief Scores: Perth Scorchers 219/7 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 101, Aaron Hardie 22; Sam Elliott 4-28, Brendan Doggett 1-28) beat Melbourne Renegades 169/7 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 66, Jake Fraser-McGurk 42; Cooper Connolly 2-23, Mahli Beardman 2-30) by 50 runs