BBL 12: Back-to-back wins for Sixers against Renegades
Hobart Hurricanes register narrow 8-run win in low-scoring encounter
Melbourne Renegades signs Jon Wells ahead of BBL 12
BBL 11 | Youngster Thornton, experienced Wells combine to down Stars and keep Strikers in hunt
Adelaide Strikers registered third back to back victory as they beat Melbourne Stars by 23 runs to move to the top four in the points table and keep their hope of making it to the Playoffs alive. The Strikers were helped by two players of contrasting experience as a newbie Henry Thornton shone with the ball by picking up a four-wicket haul while with the bat it was the warrior Jonathan Wells who came to the rescue of his side like he has done many times in his long BBL career. Chasing a target of 156, Stars lost the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Joe Clarke, two of its best batters so far in the league at the score of only 31 in the fifth over. Marcus Stoinis, who hasn’t been in great touch in the league so far, faltered once again as he was removed for one by leggie Fawad Ahmed. Beau Webster failed as well and Stars were 37-4 all of a sudden in the seventh over. Joe Burns and Hilton Cartwright built a 42 run stand for the fifth wicket and it seemed like Stars were getting back in it before Peter Siddle got through the defences of Burns. Clint Hinchliffe tried his best to stay on with Cartwright who was trying to keep the green brigade in the context, having built yet another 42 run stand. But with 35 required from 13 balls, Hinchcliffe tried one shot too many and was caught by Thomas Kelly off Harry Conway. In the very next over, Thornton got rid of Cartwright and Sam Rainbird to make it almost impossible for Stars to have any shot at the victory. With just five runs coming in the last over, the Melbourne side could only get to 132 and lost the game by 23 runs. Earlier in the day, after losing the toss and being asked to bat first, Strikers lost Matt Renshaw early on. But Matthew Short’s quickfire 33 off 22, combined with a brilliant 73 off 49 from Wells eventually got Strikers past 150 even as Jake Weatherald and Ian Cockbain took a lot of time to get to just 17 runs each. From the Stars’ viewpoint, it was a relatively good performance with the ball, especially from Rainbird and Hinchliffe who picked two wickets each. With this win, Strikers have now reached fourth place in the points table and have equal points as Hobart Hurricanes at number five but having played an extra game than them.
BBL 11 | Jason Sangha’s brilliant showing with bat takes Thunder past Strikers
It was a phenomenal display of batting from Jason Sangha at the Adelaide Oval as he struck a match-winning 91* to lead his team Sydney Thunder to a victory over hosts Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League 2021. A match which was played under the fear of Covid-19 and chances of whose happening were very unreal at the start of the day came alive from the batting of the former Australia Under-19 star. Courtesy of Snagha’s brilliant innings in which he hit six fours and six sixes, the Thunder were able to post a huge score of 187-3 in their 20 overs. Apart from Sangha, Ben Cutting, Matthew Gilkes and Sam Billings scored 13, 37 and 18 respectively while Oliver Davies reined unbeaten on 26 off just 12 balls and built an 89 run partnership with Sangha which came off just 40 balls. The Strikers bowlers did not have any clue in the death overs as Sangha and Davies took them apart. The spinners Fawad Ahmed and Rashid Khan were quite economical though, ending their four spells at 0-22 and 1-23 respectively. Chasing the target was always going to be tough for the South Australian side even though they were batting at their home ground and bove that, they lost their first wicket in the fourth over itself. However, even after the fall of Matthew Short’s wicket, Matt Renshaw and Jake Weatherald built a 69 run stand in just 48 balls and just when it seemed like the chase was on, Saqib Mahmood struck and got rid of Renshaw. In the very next over, Daniel Sams removed Weatherlad and the story was back to nought for the Strikers. Jonathan Wells tried his best with his 48 off 26 balls, but it wasn’t enough as his team could make only 165-7 in their 20 overs. In total, Sams took four wickets. With this, the Thunder registered a healthy win by 22 runs and consolidated their fourth position on the points table.
PSL 2021 | Eliminator 2: Hazratullah Zazai butchers Islamabad to send Zalmi to their 4th Final
There are days when a certain batsman takes a whole team out, for Hazratullah Zazai, there isn’t just one day, it’s every day. Right after slaughtering Karachi Kings in the first Eliminator on June 22, the Afghan international came back a day later to butcher Islamabad out of the Pakistan Super League’s title race as well. With this eight-wicket win, the Zalmi confirmed their fourth entry into a PSL Final. They would now face first-time finalists Multan Sultans at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on June 24. Playing only his fourth match in the league, the left-hander showed maturity and instead of getting bogged down by the controlled Islamabad bowling at the start of the chase. Once settled, he started his usual carnage, hitting sixes and fours at will. In his knock of 66 from 44 balls, the 23-year-old hit six fours and four humungous sixes on the grass banks in the stadium. For such blistering innings to survive, chances are important and Zazai too was offered a chance when United wicketkeeper Mohammad Akhlaq spilt a straightforward catch off the bowling of Hasan Ali in only the third over of the innings. The southpaw was batting at just seven then. Zazai won his third Man of the Match in the tournament in just his fourth appearance. He was partnered well by debutant Jonathan Wells from Australia. He came on after Kamran Akmal chopped one on to his stumps in the very first over of the innings. The duo added 126 in just 81 balls to simplify the 175 run chase for their team. The Adelaide Striker’s veteran was into his element right from the beginning, just after negotiating a horrific mixup on the very first ball that he faced. Wells made a well compiled 55 off 43 balls and remained unbeaten alongside Shoaib Malik to see his team home. Reacting after the two losses and on being forced to bow out of the tournament even after being the best team till the league stage, skipper Shadab Khan was disappointed but vowed to come back strong next year and win the title for the United fans. “We didn't put in the kind of performances (in the playoffs) that we were doing earlier. In these pressure games, it's important to have a grip on your nerves. Other teams played better than us, credit to them,” said the 22-year-old captain. “..that catch of Zazai, if it had been taken, things could have been different. Lots of positives this season, hopefully, we will come back even stronger next year and try to make Islamabad a champion,” Shadab added. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss, Zalmi skipper invited Islamabad to bat first. United had a horrific start as its most in-form batsman, Usman Khawaja was run out in the most unfortunate of the manners when the ball driven straight by Colin Munro, ricochet from bowler Malik’s shoelaces to hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Munro tried his level best to get Islamabad out of that early shock with his 29 balls 44. But his dismissal, in which he was given out after a thin edge was reviewed Wahab on wicket-keeper Akmal’s request, put the red brigade in a lot of discomforts. All their batsmen failed one by one including the star layers like Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed. At 110-8 in the 17th over, the maximum that Islamabad were looking for or could hope to get to was 140. But Hasan Ali had other plans as the bowler went berserk with the bat, hitting five fours and three sixes to reach 45 off just 15 balls before being run out on the penultimate delivery of the 20th over. Mohammad Wasim Jr. stood alongside him to score 17 off 11 balls to push Islamabad to a more than a defendable total of 175. From Zalmi’s point of view inclusion of both Wells and Amad Butt for this game was successful as Butt was the pick of the bowlers for his team, going for just 26 runs in his four overs and picking up the wicket of dangerous-looking Brandon Kings. Skipper Wahab was impressed with the team’s attitude and hope that they could carry the same to the final in a day. He also thanked the Zalmi fans for their support throughout the campaign. “There is no fear. They [players] are playing very good cricket, so I'll just say the pressure is on them [Multan Sultans] again. Let's see if they can handle it. The way my boys have played, they deserve the day off. They need to relax and prepare for the final,” he said. “The fans supported us, prayed for us. It was a difficult route we took to the final but it's a great feeling,” added the 36-year-old veteran.
BBL10| Match Report: Cool and calm Jimmy Peirson takes Heat to the Knockout
Brisbane Heat wicket-keeper batsman and vice-captain Jimmy Peirson showed an exemplary sense of calm and composure as he scored an unbeaten 47 off 44 balls to take his team past the Adelaide Strikers by six wickets in a low scoring thriller at the Gabba. He was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning performance. A chase as short as 131 got way more interesting than was expected of it as Heat lose two quick and important wickets of skipper Chris Lynn and Marnus Labuschagne, giving Strikers a chance to bring themselves into the context. Soon after, Sam Heazlett, who took Max Bryant’s place in the side was also dismissed cheaply to force Heat in a shell. Wes Agar, Michael Neser and Peter Siddle took the three wickets. It was then that Pierson joined Joe Denly and the duo constructed a rebuild fo the home team. The two of them put together 69 runs in 59 balls and took Heat to 92 in the 14th over before a rash shot from Denly saw him getting dismissed for 40. On the very next ball, Joe Burns was provided with life as he was dropped in the slips off Danny Briggs. But that was the last chance that the Heat gave strikers as they rushed away with the win soon after. Earlier in the evening, Strikers, contrary to belief, chose to field first after winning the toss. The decision didn’t turn out to be a great one as their openers couldn’t get on with the game and a slow wicket played its role in it as well, as most of the balls kept low. This meant that Strikers could get to only 45 runs in the eighth over. From there onwards, the wickets kept falling and Labuschagne was the destroyer in chief, picking up three wickets for 13 runs in his three overs, as Strikers could reach up to only 114 at the loss of seven wickets while in their 19th over. Hadn’t it been for Jon Wells’ three fours in the last over, reaching to 130 would also have been difficult for the Strikers at the end. With this win, Heat have now made it to the Knockout game of the Finals where they will face Sydney Thunder on 31st January at the Manuka Oval.
BBL10 | Match Report: Vintage Wells, Rashid Khan and Agar take Strikers past Stars
Jonathan Wells for the first time in this entire BBL10 looked like himself as he steered the Adelaide Strikers’ ship, which at times looked like spilling over, to a victory against a hard-fought Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval. With the help of his 27 balls 36 at a very crucial stage in the game, the Alex Carey side achieved teh 150 run target set by the Stars to go to the top four in the league’s points table. Gibson-Wells partnership At one p[oint of time after having lost the Bash Boost point and subsequently the wicket of skipper Carey, the Strikers couldn’t get the required momentum in their chase and by the time Jake Weatherald looked like upping the ante, he was dismissed by Adam Zampa resulting in a precarious situation where the Adelaide team required 53 from 33 and a new man Ryan Gibson on the crease. However, post the Weatherald wicket the complexion of the game changed as Wells started to shift his gears and after getting only six runs from the first power surge over, he and Gibson hit 14 in the next over to make the surge reasonably useful getting 20 from two overs. But the real change came in the 18th over as having scored a meager four runs from the 17th over, the pressure had mounted on the Strikers and they now needed thirty from three overs. It was at this moment that Wells, 32, showed his class, hitting the most dangerous bowler Rauf for 14 runs in three balls before finally getting out attempting another big hit. But by the time his wicket fell, the Strikers were in the touching distance with just 16 required off 13 balls. And the 37 run partnership between Gibson and Wells had done the trick for the team. Bash Boost and the Stars' domination Right from the time that Nic Madddinson hit two sixes in the last over to take Stra to respectable and fighting 149, from a pretty hopeless situation, there was a spark among the men in green on the field. They started well bowling tighter lines and not giving away much room for the Strikers to strike. In fact, most of the runs in the first half of the Strikers’ innings came from thick edges that either did not carry or were good enough to pass the fielder. In fact, teh bowling had been so tight and accurate that Strikers weren’t even able to get the Bash Boost point and their skipper Carey got out trying to get the Boost as they needed seven from the 10th over, but Zampa had restricted them to just four of the five deliveries and three was required off the last ball to get first points of the game. Trying to hit a four, Carey reverse swept and it was caught brilliantly by Maddinson at short third man. At the end of the 10th over the Men in Blue were 65/3 needing some real sensible batting, which fortunately came from Wells. Agar- Rashid shine with the ball Appearing in his last BBL game of the season, teh 22-year-old Afghan Rashid Khan made sure that it was memorable for him, not only by being there to see his team through with the bat but most importantly by doing what he is known for- picking wickets at the right time. tODAY, Danny Briggs, usually the most economical bowler in the Strikers lineup was taken for the cleaners and thus Khan decided to turn out his best as he knocked out Nick Larkin and Glenn Maxwell, two big fishes in two consecutive deliveries to jolt an already weak looking Stars lineup. Rashid ended his spell with 2/29 in four and was cheered by the loving Oval crowd after every ball. Another bowler that made sure that Stars never got going was Wes Agar, now the joint highest wicket-taker with Jhye Richardson with 17 wickets in the BBL10 so far. He bowled exceptionally as well, picking up the wickets of Spiceman Andre Fletcher and the dangerous Marchus Stoinis just when he was looking to let loose in his start-stop innings. Agar finished with the figures of 2/19 from his four Stars' batsmen lacked application of skills There was nobody in the Stars line up apart from Maddisnson who tried to apply himself and sticker the crease, (Larkin did stick but his stay was miserable, to say the least). From a soft dismissal of Fletcher to a nothing shot by Stoinis, to Maxwell being Maxwell. Nobody was able to make amends with the situation and had it not been for Maddinson’s 34 balls 48 not out which included two sixes and three fours, teh match would have been over pretty soon. Stars seriously need to get rid of Fletcher the batsman and bring back Nicholas Pooran in if they want to have a crack at entering the Playoffs. What's Next? These two teams clash once again at the same venue in three days' time on 15th January, where Stars would try hard to avenge this loss and get their points table going.
BBL 2020 Team Preview: Men from Adelaide have the force to strike hard this time
The men from Adelaide have readied their arsenal to strike at the right moment and throughout the tournament to make sure they reach their second-ever BBL final in the history of the league. The first and only time they did, was in 2017-18, where they beat Hobart Hurricanes to claim the silverware. The extra motivation Since then it has been difficult for the team to make it to the final two in the past two years. This time around, the team would go in with extra motivation, given the fact that It was the only among the eight teams to be away from their home venue due to covid. Being away as a group for the past month has brought them closer and given them a target to prove that even without the odds in their favour, they are never afraid to ride the high tide. Coach Gillespie believes that his boys have put in a lot of effort at their base in Coff’s Harbour in the New South Wales and was grateful for the authorities to have provided the team world-class facilities. "I have to say the local council, the stadium management and grounds staff in Coffs Harbour deserve all the credit. The facilities we had – at short notice – have been world-class and they all bent over backwards to help. I can't thank them enough,” he said. The foreign signings Adelaide are the only team who wouldn’t have much problem with their foreign stars as most of them would be available throughout the tournament, barring the fact that Rashid Khan might be away for a week or so if the Afghanistan vs Ireland series goes as planned. Rashid Khan’s worldwide reputation of winning matches doesn’t need any backing up from the stats. But if one was indeed wanted to know, then in 40 matches at the BBL over the years, the Afghan has picked up 56 wickets, his economy remaining below seven at all the times. Overall in 237 T20 games, the 22-year-old has picked up 327 wickets. Phil Salt and Danny Brigs, both Englishmen were drafted in by Gillespie for their outstanding performances in the Vitality Blast. While Salt has previously played with the Strikers, it would be a first time for Briggs, the highest wicket-taker in England domestic circuit. Phil Salt was one of the leading run-scorers for Strikers last year with 361 runs from 15 innings. Even in the Vitality Blast, he has to his credit more than 200 runs at a decent strike rate. Overall too, he has 1709 runs in 73 T20 games at a strike rate of more than 150, which could be crucial for the Strikers considering that his partner, Jake Weatherald is more of an innings builder with a strike rate of less than 130. Briggs, another one of Gillespies Sussex recruits is more of a method actor playing in commercial as he would be the working horse who has an economy less than 8 and can bowl at any time in the innings. The vastly experienced 29-year-old has 186 T20 wickets in his kitty in 168 games, meaning that he gives at least one wicket in each game. Speaking about Briggs’ potential, Gillespie who had been at Sussex himself said, “Danny is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the T20 Blast in the UK, which has been running since 2003. He's a vastly experienced left-arm spinner, he's a very adaptable player. He can bowl in every phase of the game, so he gives us flexibility and options.” Adelaide Strikers Squad Wes Agar, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Travis Head (c), Spencer Johnson, Michael Neser, Harry Nielsen, Liam O'Connor, Matthew Renshaw, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Jon Wells, Daniel Worrall. Overseas Players: Danny Briggs (England), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Phil Salt (England) Coach: Jason Gillespie Assistant Coach: Cameroon White Strikers would bank on experience Adelaide is one of the most experienced sides this year in the tournament. It is not by the age of the players, rather by the number of games that they have played. For e.g Phil Slat, at just 24, has an experience of 73 high quality T20 games. Or for that matter, Rashid Khan at 22 more than 300 wickets in his kitty. It is this experience that needs to be balanced and utilised well by the Strikers management. The likes Peter Siddle, joint highest wicket-taker (19 wickets in 15 games) last season, all-rounder Michael Nesser (as and when available), skipper Travis Head, Rashid Khan, Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw would have come to good to give the Strikers all the chance in the world to make it to their second finals appearance. However, one person that all the Strikers fans and team would be looking to come good would be the 32-year-old Jonathan Wells. The guy had smokes all the bowlers out of the park last year as he scored 478 runs in 14 innings at an unbelievable average of 68.28 and at a healthy strike rate of 135. However, Gillespie believes that the new signing Renshaw and Daniel Worrall ould be the important dots to connect the Strikers to the finals. “Matt came down from Brisbane to Coffs to get around our boys after a few hits in Premier Cricket. He's a very fine player and that's the reason we went hard to recruit him. He's a very flexible batter with a lot of upsides and he can also bowl some handy slower deliveries too.” Head must 'Carey' it through It would be between the two most experienced and acclaimed Aussie Superstars in the form of Travis Head (the original captain) and Alex Carey (who would lead in Head’s absence due to international duties) to take the charge of a unit brimming of talent and make the most of all that talent. Carey, 29, has just recently signed a four year deal with the strikers, meaning that the team looks at him as their future leader. With Head away, most probably for the first eight rounds, Carey, who was Strikers’ second-highest run-scorer last year with 391 runs at an average of 35.54, must take the lead and prove to the Australian selectors that he should be the number one choice going to India for the next year’s T20 World Cup. Carey would not get a better chance than this to do that. Head, when he will return, will have gas hands as he would look to recreate the 2017-18 season all over again in which he scored 374 runs in just 9 innings (he would get 7-8 innings minimum this year too) to take the team through. Therefore it would be between the two experienced left-handers Head and Carey to carry the team in such a way that it heads to the final straightaway. Possible Best XI for the first game: Jake Weatherald, Phil Salt, Matt Short, Matt Renshaw (c), Jon Wells, Harry Nielsen (wk), Rashid Khan, Peter Siddle, Wes Agar, Danny Briggs, Daniel Worrall