ADELAIDE: Matthew Short scored a match-winning 72 after the veteran pacer – Peter Siddle’s five-fer guided Adelaide Strikers to beat Hobart Hurricane by seven wickets in their Big Bash League (BBL) fixture on Wednesday.
The Strikers’ bowling attack wreaked havoc over the Hurricanes batting line-up; dismissing them for a paltry 126. Later, their batters chased down the target with seven wickets in hand in the 16th over.
Batting first, the Hurricanes batters struggled throughout the innings and none of their batters could able to go big to assist their side to a commendable total. The side, in the end, bowled out for a mere 126; setting an easy target for the home side.
For the Strikers, Tim David scored 28, followed by their top-scorer of the day – D’Arcy Short, who scored a run-a-ball 32, including three boundaries.
For the home side, Siddle starred with the ball; claiming a five-wicket haul, while Rashid Khan bagged two wickets. Short and Harry Conway, on the other hand, shared one wicket apiece.
Set to chase 127, the Strikers had a decent start to their innings. The openers provided a fair 38-runs stand before Henry Hunt fell short to Sandeep Lamichhane’s brilliant delivery. Hunt scored 18 off 14 balls; hitting three boundaries.
Matt Renshaw then joined Short; putting on an important 68-runs partnership for the second wicket. Renshaw, however, struggled to get going and was also dismissed by Lamichhane. He managed to score 19 off 21 balls, including a boundary.
The side was losing wickets at a consistent rate, but, Short stood firm at the other end and kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly. He scored an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls, laced with four boundaries and five sixes. His heroics helped the home side to chase down the target comfortably in the end. Short was later adjudged as the Player of the match; following his brilliant all-round performance.
For the Hurricanes, Lamichhane bagged two wickets, while D’Arcy managed to claim one wicket.
With this victory, the Strikers have claimed the sixth position on the points table, while the Hurricanes remained at the fourth.
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