Adelaide have pulled off a BBL heist, rallying late to snatch victory from the Sydney Thunder by six runs.
As much as the Strikers held their nerve on Tuesday night at Adelaide Oval, the Thunder blew a golden opportunity and captain David Warner smashed the ground with his bat in frustration during the last over.
While Adelaide improved to 3-3 and are in the finals mix, the Thunder are outright last with a 1-6 record.
Adelaide captain Matt Short took probably the catch of the season as his bowlers worked superbly to defend a total that was about 20 runs too few.
"Just a big relief, obviously a tight match. We needed the win to keep our season alive," Short told Fox Sports.
"We got away with it."
Asked about his diving catch to snare a solid hit from David Willey in the second-last over, Short said: "it was nice just to have it 'stick'. It was probably a big wicket in the end, it went a long way to helping us win."
In the dramatic finish, Willey had hit a six off Jamie Overton from the previous delivery.
"I said 'don't bowl there again, big fella'," Short said.
Then the ball after Short's catch, Luke Wood dropped a sitter off Nathan McAndrew to end the over.
That left the Thunder needing 13 off the last over and Wood set aside his dropped catch to redeem himself, conceding only seven runs.
"He was very good, actually, in that last over - very calm. He got us over the line," Short said of Wood.
The Strikers' 8-165 did not look enough, but Overton, Hassan Ali and Lloyd Pope all contributed with the ball to secure the win.
Warner scored an unbeaten 67 from 51 deliveries to pace the Thunder's 7-159.
Warner and Matt Gilkes took the Thunder to 0-73 in the 10th over and it looked as though Sydney would cruise to the win.
But Gilkes' dismissal for 43, caught behind off Overton, triggered a top-order wobble.
Sam Billings and Sam Konstas went cheaply in a 3-7 spell that had the Thunder suddenly stalled at 3-77 in the 12th.
Warner and Nic Maddinson then combined for a 44-run stand as the momentum shifted again.
After Overton dismissed Maddinson for 21, Pope bowled Daniel Sams and Chris Green was run out by an excellent throw from Jerrssis Wadia to leave the game in the balance again.
Overton was the pick of the attack with 3-25 from his four overs.
After his 3-30 BBL debut on Sunday, South African spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was left out of the Strikers line-up for Hassan.
Chris Lynn hit a towering six to open Adelaide's innings after Warner won the toss. But Lynn and fellow opener Short did not survive the first two overs.
Liam Scott was unbeaten on 49, but was kept at the non-strikers' end for much of the final overs, while Mackenzie Harvey contributed 38.
Wes Agar was outstanding at the death, taking two wickets in Adelaide's last over.
He snared 3-16 from three overs, while Tanveer Sangha's four overs cost a miserly 0-19.
