Sydney, Dec 19
Matt Short’s masterclass and Adam Hose’s clutch hitting at the death lifted Adelaide Strikers to a thrilling six-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder at Adelaide Oval. After Cameron Bancroft (74) anchored the Thunder’s 200 for 7 on Tuesday night, Short (82) led the reply superbly in his first match as permanent captain before Hose raised victory with two deliveries remaining with a towering six. Short, who pounded six sixes in his 41-ball knock, and unrelated namesake D’Arcy Short (66) put on 139 for the first wicket and had the hosts in control before the skipper’s departure saw the scoring rate slow. Chris Lynn was uncharacteristically subdued as the asking rate escalated to 35 required from the last three overs. Strikers took the power surge and lost Lynn, bowled by a Zaman Khan yorker, before Jake Weatherald was run out in amateurish fashion, beaten by Zaman’s direct hit while dawdling to the non-striker’s end.
But Hose (28 not out off nine balls) kept his cool, striking three boundaries off Nathan McAndrew in the 19th over before going 4-2-6 off Zaman in the 20th immediately after Weatherald’s embarrassment.
Earlier, Bancroft continued to press his claims for higher honours, translating his rich red-ball form to the shortest format and giving Thunder a strong platform.
English opener Alex Hales was bowled by Matt Short attempting his fourth successive boundary before Matt Gilkes departed first ball during a frenetic powerplay. No. 3 Ollie Davies fell to a superb catch from Matt Short before Bancroft and Alex Ross (46) combined for an entertaining 82-run stand for the fourth wicket. Daniel Sams appeared to hurt his right hip flexor while tumbling for a run in his brief innings but was able to bowl, seemingly without discomfort.
Big Englishman Jamie Overton impressed in his BBL debut, snaring 2 for 29 and taking a wonderful outfield catch to dismiss McAndrew in the 20th over.
