Adelaide Strikers captain Matt Short steered his side to the BBL finals with a quality innings to down the Sydney Thunder.

In sealing a spot in the top four, Short clubbed a brilliant 74 not out as Strikers chased Thunder’s 140 with nine wickets and 23 balls to spare at Manuka Oval on Sunday night.

They’ll face Perth Scorchers or the Sydney Sixers in an elimination final and they take some serious form there, having won four straight games.

Legspinner Lloyd Pope (4-22) and quick Jamie Overton (3-26) led a strong bowling night for Strikers, with regular wicket-taking ensuring Thunder couldn’t get set in a stuttering innings.

Alternatively, Short looked unstoppable from the moment he strode into the middle, quickly showing the sort of form that’s seen him smash six half-centuries in nine innings.

Such was Short’s dominance, he deposited two enormous sixes out of the Manuka Oval precinct, while No. 3 Jake Weatherald was in similar touch with four sixes in his unbeaten 47.

Things could have been different for Thunder, with David Warner dropping a difficult catch off the first ball of the innings.

Batting first, Thunder opener Alex Hales looked to take the game away from the Strikers, but legspinner Cameron Boyce produced a perfect leg-break that gained an edge to turn the match on its head.

Contributions lower down the order from skipper Chris Green) and Matt Gilkes helped the Thunder build a somewhat respectable score, before they were bowled out with four balls to spare.

Top-order players Warner, Cameron Bancroft and Ollie Davies all fell cheaply. Spinner Pope did his part in cleaning up Thunder’s tail, including bowling Green and Nathan McAndrew in consecutive balls. He didn’t get his hat-trick but settled for the next best thing, knocking over Liam Hatcher a ball later.