Hobart Hurricanes versus Adelaide Strikers BBL match report

A win against Adelaide Strikers would have guaranteed first place but instead revived memories of last season’s decider at the Adelaide Oval.

​The seven-wicket win at Launceston’s UTAS Stadium saw the Strikers join the Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Renegades as the only teams to have beaten Adam Griffith’s men this season and also inflicted their first home loss.

However, the crowd of 13,836 was the Hurricanes’ highest of the campaign and, following figures of 9132 (Hobart), 10,478 (Hobart), 12,455 (Launceston), 12,920 (Hobart) and 11,320 (Hobart) suggested the Tasmanian public quite like having a team in a national sporting competition.

The contest also produced the highlight of George Town’s Jarrod Freeman claiming his first BBL wicket in the city where he goes to college.

Chasing 170 to keep their season alive, the reigning champions flew out of the blocks.

Openers Alex Carey and Jake Weatherald were showing no mercy, smashing an unbeaten 84 in the fourth highest powerplay in BBL history.

Hitting 12 boundaries in the first four overs, the obligatorily-nicknamed Blues Brothers both recorded half-centuries at virtually two-runs-per-ball.

It was a particularly miserable period for former Hurricanes cult hero Jofra Archer who dropped Weatherald on 30 and at one point had the mathematically impressive figures of 0-19 off three deliveries.

After James Faulkner, Clive Rose and Freeman were also taken to the cleaners early, it was Simon Milenko who eventually broke the partnership on 116 by dismissing Carey (54 off 34) with a smart, albeit disputed, caught and bowled.

Weatherald eventually fell for 82, off just 42 deliveries, when caught by D’Arcy Short off Archer.

But it was the wicket of Jake Lehmann that brought the biggest cheer of the innings when adjudged lbw to a delighted Freeman.

Ultimately, it was too little too late as the Strikers scorched home with 13 deliveries to spare.

Earlier, Hurricanes captain Matthew Wade established a UTAS Stadium record score of 88 as the hosts rattled up 7-169.

Making a more wholesome contribution in the middle of the ground than his father a generation earlier, the dynamic opener surpassed Jos Buttler’s innings of 67 from last season.

Wade hit eight fours and two sixes in his 54-ball contribution as the Hurricanes’ opening pair merrily continued on their record-breaking ways.

Wade and Short cemented their standing atop the competition’s batting figures and extended their unbeaten spell against the Strikers to 217 before finally being interrupted.

Fresh from their 158-run partnership in just the BBL’s second 10-wicket victory, the left-handers added another 59 before former Cane Ben Laughlin finally ended their fun, Short departing for 26.

Having gone more than two-and-a-half matches without the need for a fourth batsman, Caleb Jewell and Ben McDermott departed for 17 and 18 respectively before crowd-displeasing home-town ducks for George Bailey and James Faulkner.

But it was Wade who looked most at home, recording his fifth half-century of the season and racing to his highest score to the appropriate accompaniment of Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again On My Own.

Twice dropped, the former Test wicket-keeper was also eventually claimed by Laughlin who claimed the best figures of 3-31.

Despite the substantial loss, the Hurricanes are assured of making the finals and have two remaining fixtures at Bellerive against Melbourne Renegades then Sydney Thunder at Canberra’s Manuka Oval.