Sydney Thunder ended Adelaide Strikers’ unbeaten start to Big Bash League 2015 in style as they chased down a modest target with 3.3 overs to spare at Sydney. Thunder, led by Mike Hussey remain the only unbeaten team in BBL 2015.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, Strikers got off to the worst possible start as they lost Tim Ludeman in the first ball of the innings. His opening partner, Craig Simmons, followed in the next over to leave the visitors reeling at 3/2.
Despite losing Travis Head in the final ball of the powerplay, the experienced Mahela Jayawardene and Brad Hodge provided some stability to the innings. But once the Sri Lankan batsman departed in the 11th over, a tough task just got harder.
Batsmen continued to come and go, but nobody could support the skipper, who was waging a losing battle on his own. In the end, with some support from Adil Rashid, the visitors managed to get the score above 100.
But it needed a couple of sixes from Kane Richardson and Ben Laughlin in the final over to get them to 117/9 in their quota of 20 overs. The wickets were shared evenly among all the bowlers, as Andre Russell and Clint McKay picked up two, while Fawad Ahmed, Jacques Kallis and Gurinder Sandhu shared a wicket apiece.
The total was never going to be enough against a Thunder side packed with power-hitters and so it proved to be. Strikers needed early wickets if they were to have any chance of winning, but Aiden Blizzard and Kallis added 66 for the opening wicket before the Australian fell in the penultimate ball of the 10th over.
Despite the breakthrough, they couldn’t rack up a few quick wickets and it was a question of when the home side will win and not if. Although Shane Watson got out for 13, they just needed 18 to win.
Russell then smashed two huge sixes in the space of three balls, before he was caught in the deep, trying to finish the game with a six. Kallis, who had played a solid hand thorughout the game, was on hand to score the winning runs as he finished unbeaten on 49 and help his side win their third-successive game in the tournament.
Brief Scores: Adelaide Strikers 117/9 in 20 overs (Hodge 34, McKay 18/2) lost to Sydney Thunder 121/3 in 16.3 overs (Kallis 49*, Laughlin 22/2)
