Adelaide Strikers 3 for 170 (Weatherald 82, Carey 54, Milenko 1-19) beat Hobart Hurricanes 7 for 169 (Wade 88, Laughlin 3-31) by seven wickets
An electrifying century stand from Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey helped Adelaide Strikers break a four-game losing streak in a massive upset over Hobart Hurricanes in Launceston.
The win kept the Strikers’ slim finals hopes alive, while the Hurricanes lost for the third time batting first this season season.
Chasing 170, Weatherald and Carey scored 84 runs in the Powerplay against a Hurricanes attack that has scythed through opponents all season.
The striking was belligerent and brought back memories of last year’s final, when Weatherald’s assault yielded a title-winning century. He fell 18 runs shy of another BBL hundred, but his 82 from 42 balls made light work of the chase. Carey’s 54 from 35 was equally brilliant as the Strikers won with seven wickets and 12 balls to spare.
The chase overshadowed another masterclass from Matthew Wade. He made his highest T20 score, 88 off just 54 balls to underpin the Hurricanes’ total of 7 for 169. It was his fifth half-century of the tournament and he was part of a 10th half-century opening stand with D’Arcy Short in the BBL.
But both Wade and Short fell to the crafty skills of Ben Laughlin who made the difference with his 3 for 31. He also had Wade dropped twice. But in removing Wade in the 18th over, he cut the chase down significantly as Hobart only managed 27 runs from the last 24 balls of the innings.
It’s Groundhog day, again
The Strikers were on the receiving end of an unbroken 158-run stand between Wade and Short at Adelaide Oval earlier in the season and history looked set to repeat in the Powerplay. They cruised to 53 without loss here. The Strikers tried a fresh new-ball option with Cam Valente opening the bowling and delivering three overs upfront. He did a good job not concede a boundary in his first two overs before Wade cleared the fence in his third. Laughlin finally made the breakthrough forcing Short to miscue with a clever slower ball. Wade got a huge slice of luck, dropped at long-off by Michael Neser off Laughlin two overs later. He made the Strikers pay pulverising them, particularly square of the wicket. Half his runs came from boundaries and the rest was through smart placement and excellent running.
Full report to follow…
Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Melbourne
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo