Adelaide Strikers and Hobart Hurricanes are set to face off in the Eliminator round, at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne (MCG), on January 21, 2022. Earlier, the Hobart Hurricanes defeated the Melbourne Renegades by six runs to clinch a playoff berth in the Big Bash League for the 2021-22 season. Here are Strikers vs Hurricanes Match Highlights.
Strikers vs Hurricanes Match Highlights
After finishing the 56 league matches in the BBL 2021-22 season, the 5th-placed Adelaide Strikers have faced the 4th-placed Hobart Hurricanes in this (Eliminator) match. Both teams struggled in the ongoing tournament to put some impressive outings. The Hurricanes began the season with a few defeats before pulling together a few victories before fading away near the end of the competition. On the other hand, the Strikers appeared to be out of the competition following a string of failures in the 1st half but then roared back with a string of victories.
Coming back to the Eliminator match, despite winning the toss, the Adelaide Strikers elected to bat first against the Hurricanes. The openers, Alex Carey and Matthew Short stormed in with a strong note to survive in the eliminator. The duo certainly partnered up to build a crucial partnership for the side, making the Hurricanes bowlers sweat and keeping the fielders busy. The duo made a quick and crucial 100-run partnership in just 63 deliveries. On the other side, the Hurricanes bowlers were aimed to disrupt the forming partnership of the opening pair and to restrict the flow of the runs.
Matthew Short Awarded The KFC ‘Player Of The Match’
Alex Carey and Matthew Short of the Adelaide Strikers appeared to be quite aggressive with the bat. Upon smashing back-to-back boundaries, they combined for a crucial partnership for the side. It appeared to be a fight between ‘Alex Carey vs Matthew Short’ for Hurricanes to hit the ball hard, as both were ruthless and forceful.
However, the Hurricanes were found it difficult to break the partnership, and it is obvious that their bowling unit has lost the consistency to pitch in an accurate line and length. Meanwhile, Scott Boland finally made a big breakthrough for Hurricanes upon bagging the destructive batsman Alex Carey 67 (45) and then comes, Wil Parker to pick Matthew Short 89 (48) on his way to a century and Riley Meredith on track to bag a couple of wickets in the form of Travis Head 5 (7) & Ian Cockbain 3 (6).
In 20 overs, the Adelaide Strikers set a massive total of 189 after handing 6 wickets for the Hobart Hurricanes. This can be termed as a do-or-die situation, where the Adelaide Strikers came in aggressive with their explosive opening batsmen Matt Short 89 (48) and Alex Carey 67 (45). It’s also worth noting that, except for the initial combination, no other batter was able to sustain the momentum established by the openers. The remaining Strikers’ batting lineup fell short in a quick session, allowing the Hurricanes bowlers Riley Meredith and Thomas Rogers with a couple of wickets each helped to get back on track just after destruction. And then, it seemed to be interesting to observe Hurricanes batters can put up some magical show to survive in the Eliminator.
Adelaide Strikers have had set a huge score with the help of their opening pair for the Hobart Hurricanes. The Hurricanes’ bowling team has had a poor performance in restricting the Strikers, and now who has had a slow start to their innings in their huge run chase. The Strikers made the early breakthroughs, where Matthew Short removed Hurricanes opening batsman Ben McDermott for just 6 (3) and Peter Siddle dismissed Matthew Wade for just 7 (7). Hurricanes are fueled by Caleb Jewell and D Arcy Short’s important partnership in chasing the target, until, Harry Conway steps in with a brilliant delivery to bag Caleb Jewell 35 (31). On the other hand, Strikers bowlers seemed to be consistent to restrict opponents and demonstrate that their bowling lineup can also be aggressive as well.
After losing three wickets in a quick session, D Arcy Short and Peter Handscomb fueled the Hobart Hurricanes’ hopes of surviving in the tournament, but those prospects were wrecked after Henry Thornton struck both batters with back-to-back deliveries. Thornton’s first victim was D Arcy Short 56 (34), and his second was Peter Handscomb 15 (13). And then Conway steps again to grab his 2nd wicket in the form of Jordan Thompson 3(3) and then Fawad Ahmed followed Conway’s footsteps to bag Thomas Rogers 1 (2). Meantime, Siddle raised the hopes for Strikers upon scooping up Tim David 21 (11). With the exception of Caleb Jewell and D Arcy Short, no other batters in the lineup could provide consistent results to survive to play the 20 overs. Peter Siddle with a four-wicket haul seemed unstoppable.
On the other flip, Strikers, seemed to be playing sensible cricket, as their lineup proved to be formidable enough just to collapse Hurricanes’ prospects in the Eliminator. As a result, Adelaide Strikers won by 22 runs against Hobart Hurricanes.
Also read: Strikers Defeat Hurricanes By 22 Runs In The Eliminator
