BBL 2016/17: Top 5 moments from the Hobart Hurricanes vs Sydney Thunder clash

A captain’s innings from Shane Watson and a brilliant all-round bowling effort from the pacers and spinners helped the Sydney Thunder register their second win of the BBL 2016-17, against the Hobart Hurricanes at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart today in match 20.

The thunder batsmen cantered to the target of 162 courtesy a whirlwind opening stand of 62 in less than 7 overs between youngster Kurtis Patterson and James Vince, who was playing his first match of the BBL after being flown in as a replacement for Eoin Morgan, who has left for India to captain England’s one-day and T20 teams.

Captain Shane Watson smashed his way back into form and lit up the stadium with his power hitting en route to a stroke-filled 55 of just 31 deliveries that included 5 sixes.

Earlier in the day, batting first after losing the toss, the Hurricanes got off to a nightmarish start with in-form openers Tim Paine and D’Arcy Short being dismissed inside the first 2 overs. Ben McDermott and George Bailey then consolidated the innings with a steady partnership, Bailey top scoring for his team with 69 off 54 deliveries.

Pat Cummins and Andre Russell’s replacement Carlos Brathwaite, took 2 wickets each.

Brief Scores: Hobart Hurricanes 161 for 8 in 20 overs (George Bailey 69, Carlos Brathwaite 2 for 31) lost to Sydney Thunder 162 for 4 in 16.5 overs (Shane Watson 55, Cameron Boyce 2 for 28)

Result: Sydney Thunder won by 6 wickets.

Let’s take a look at some of the best moments from the game.

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#5 Bailey responds to his one-day exclusion

A day after being dropped from Australia one-day team to play Pakistan from next week, George Bailey gave the best possible reply to the selectors regarding his form, by top scoring for his team and rescuing them from a precarious situation of 2 for 10. Coming in to bat in the 2^nd over of the innings, he went back unbeaten with 69 to his name.

Being the most experience batsman in the line-up today since Kumar Sangakkara was not playing, he took his time initially, scoring just 9 off 11 balls by the end of the 5^th over, but after getting set, he came into his own by hitting 2 fours in the last over of the powerplay, and then carried the innings on his shoulders till the end to take his team to a fighting score of 161.

#4 Miserly Fawad presents his case

Talented leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed presented a strong case for his inclusion in the Australian side for the tour to India with a canny spell of leg spin bowling. With the batsmen looking to go big in search for quick runs, he bowled beautifully, conceding just 19 runs off his 4 overs to put the brakes on the Hurricanes’ scoring rate.

It rarely happens in a T20 innings that a spinner’s spell goes boundary-less and today was one such time. A testimony to Fawad’s miserly spell was the fact that the Hurricanes batsmen couldn’t hit him for a single boundary in his spell and this went a long way in ensuring that their total was restricted to a manageable 161.

#3 Vince makes an impressive debut

Playing his first game of the BBL, stylish right-hander James Vince from England opened the innings for the Thunder in the run chase and responded brilliantly. Hitting his first ball for a four, he entertained the crowd with a flurry of boundaries in the next few overs and raced to 38 off just 20 deliveries by the end of the powerplay, laced with 6 fours and a delightfully lofted six over long-on.

He continued his partnership with Shane Watson after his opening partner Patterson departed in the 7h over, and the Thunder were half way through the target when he was dismissed in the 10^th over, having scored 44 off 28 balls. An impressive start to his BBL stint indeed.

#2 Watson makes a roaring return to form

The Thunder captain Shane Watson had a forgettable tournament with the bat till this game, as a result of which his team‘s results were getting affected. They’d won just one game out of 5 coming into this one and a return to form was much needed for the skipper. He started confidently, hitting his 6^th ball for a massive six that went in the 2^nd tier, and from then, never looked back.

Once set, he tore into the Hurricanes bowling, hitting sixes at will and smashed 19 runs off a Shaun Tait over, before finally getting dismissed for a stupendous 55 off just 31 balls with 5 sixes and 2 fours, leaving his team just 19 short of the target with 5 overs to spare.

His return to form with the bat after having bowled beautifully in the last game is a welcome sign for the Thunder.

#1 Shaun “Wild Thing” Tait has a night to forget

Shaun Tait, nicknamed “Wild Thing”, came on to bowl in the 4^th over of the innings and started off by conceding fours off his first 2 deliveries. Another four hit by Vince off the 5^th ball meant the over went for 14 in all. A poor start, but a bowler can always come back after one bad over, can’t he?

But no, it wasn’t meant to be for Tait. Coming back to bowl again in the 11^th over with the Thunder still needing 80 and Watson and Rohrer new to the crease, he started the over with a waist high full toss to Watson that was duly called a no-ball, and the free-hit was dispatched to long-on for four.

Things only got worse for Tait from then as Watson tore into him, hitting the last 2 balls of the over for a four and a six to loot 19 off it and put his team well on its way to a win. Tait’s 2 overs cost him 32. Not a night he’d like to remember for long!