Former England Test star Ian Bell made the most of an early Christmas gift and Mitchell Johnson starred with the ball to help power the Perth Scorchers to a crushing 48-run win over the Adelaide Strikers in Friday night's BBL clash at the WACA Ground.
Bell made the Strikers pay for dropping him first ball, scoring 61 off 42 balls to lift the Scorchers to a formidable 7-197 in front of 20,430 fans.
In reply, Adelaide crumbled to 3-15 after four overs before finishing at 9-149.
Johnson finished with 3-33 in his long-awaited BBL debut, snaring the key wickets of Kieron Pollard and Brad Hodge (56 off 33 balls).
Fellow paceman David Willey was the pick of the bowlers with 2-15 off four overs
Bell and Johnson had a scary moment when they collided in the field while attempting to catch a skied ball.
Luckily, neither player was hurt in the incident, although the catch went begging.
Bell, who overcame a muscle strain in his arm to play, was dropped first ball at mid-wicket by Jake Weatherald.
Had Weatherald held onto the easy catch, the Scorchers would have been in early trouble at 2-7.
Instead, Bell turned the match Perth's way with a composed display in his maiden BBL outing.
Mitch Marsh, who was dropped on 14 by Kieron Pollard on the rope, chipped in with 31 off 19 balls in an important cameo.
And Ashton Turner (44no off 19 balls) provided the late fireworks, cracking two fours and four sixes in a blistering knock.
The Strikers needed to make a strong start to have a legitimate chance of chasing down the victory total.
Instead, their top order crumbled.
Ben Dunk was caught at mid-wicket for a duck in David Willey's first over.
Travis Head made just 13 before feathering Jhye Richardson behind.
And when Johnson snared the prized scalp of Pollard in his first over, the Strikers were in disarray at 4-52 in the eighth over.
Hodge tried his best to right the ship.
But his innings was brought to an end in the 13th over when he was clean bowled by a perfectly-executed Johnson slower ball.
Kane Richardson scored 45 off 28 balls down the order in a lost cause.
The Scorchers are the most successful franchise in BBL history, having won two titles and reached the finals every season.
But amazingly, this was the first time in six attempts they had won their opening match of a season.
Adelaide are 0-2 heading into Saturday's home clash with the Sydney Sixers.
"You can't afford to drop those catches in professional games," Hodge said of Bell's lifeline.
"It's too hard to get wickets of good players, and Ian Bell's a good player and he punished us.
"We've just got to sharpen up."
Johnson said he enjoyed his first outing for the Scorchers.
"I was pretty nervous," Johnson said.
"I got here and started to annoy the boys when I first arrived. I was talking a lot and harassing the guys.
"That was just a bit of nervous energy. Once I got out here and started bowling, it was good."
