Joe Clarke helped England Lions overcome a strong Perth Scorchers line-up by 12 runs and become the first ever winners at Western Australia’s stunning new stadium today.
The Lions were given the honour of playing the first match at the 55,000-capacity Perth Stadium which is due to stage England’s ODI against Australia in the New Year.
The players relished the surroundings to beat a Scorchers team who are preparing to launch their defence of the Big Bash title they have won three times in the last four years.
Their line-up included England star David Willey, as well as Australian internationals Hilton Cartwright, Andrew Tye, Ashton Agar and Adam Voges.
Clarke went into the game on the back of his 45 on his first senior appearance for England against a Cricket Australia X1.
He gave the Lions a breezy start after they had been put in by making 18 from eight balls.
Clarke, who had also made 92 for the Lions against a Western Australia X1 in a T20 match, struck two fours and one six until he drove Willey to mid-off.
The Lions totalled 160-6 in their 20 overs with Nick Gubbins (31), Dan Lawrence (25) and top scorer Liam Livingstone (36) chipping in to good effect.
Saqib Mahmood then returned the excellent figures of 4-14 from four overs as the Scorchers closed on 148-9.
