Strikers put an end to Thunders' finals hopes with their third win of the season

The Adelaide Strikers have almost certainly eliminated the Sydney Thunder from finals contention after defeating them by six runs on Tuesday night.

After losing the toss and being forced to bat first, the Strikers were forced to see others step up early after their big hitters in Chris Lynn (15) and Matt Short (4) departed cheaply.

Mackenzie Harvey (38) and Jason Sangha (31) steadied the ship for the home side from there, conjuring up a strong 68 run partnership which saw the home side regain control of the contest.

Once Sangha departed, it was Liam Scott who helped ensure the Strikers got to a respectable score, putting together an unbeaten 49 run innings to leave the Strikers score at 8/165 after the completion of their 20 overs.

Wes Agar did his best for the Thunder to try and keep the score low, putting together impressive figures of 3/16 off his three overs.

And despite David Warner’s best efforts with another match-winning-esque innings, his 67 not out wouldn’t be enough as the visitors finished six runs short of their target, despite having an opening partnership of 73 and another partnership of 44 during their run-chase.

Jamie Overton was the major wicket taker for the Strikers, as he finished with figures of 3/25 during their successful defence of 165 runs.

Next up for the Thunder, they’ll be travelling to Brisbane to take on the Heat on Saturday. As for the Strikers, they’ll look to continue to press their case for a finals berth this season when they take on the Hurricanes in Hobart on Friday.