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Sydney Thunder were bundled out for an all-time low 15 in 5.5 overs by Adelaide Strikers, who registered their second win of the ongoing Big Bash League 2022-23 and climbed atop the standings table on Friday.
Chasing 140 to win, Thunder lost opener Matthew Gilkes to part-timer Matthew Short in the very first over before Henry Thornton and Wes Agar took over. Thornton was aided by Short’s brilliance in the slips for his first wicket, the tall opener leaping up high to grab a one-handed stunner to dismiss Riley Rossouw.
Skipper Jason Sangha edged one behind through to the wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen, and Alex Hales and Alex Ross followed suit off Agar and Thornton across the next two overs while Daniel Sams was bowled around his legs. Thunder slipped to 9/6, and were eventually skittled out in the sixth over, with Thornton and Agar returning scarcely believable 5-3 and 4-6, respectively.
The previous lowest total in Men’s T20s belonged to Turkey, who were all-out for 21 in 8.3 overs against the Czech Republic at the Ilfov County ground in August 2019. Nielsen became the third wicketkeeper in BBL history to register five dismissals in an innings.
Earlier, Chris Lynn and Colin de Grandhomme scored valuable thirties in Adelaide Strikers first-innings effort of 139/9 after they opted to bat. Fazalhaq Farooqi was the pick of the bowlers for Thunder with 3/20, while Sams and Gurinder Sandhu bagged two wickets each.
Brief scores
Adelaide Strikers 139/9 (Lynn 36, De Grandhomme 33; Farooqi 3-20, Sams 2-23, Sandhu 2-28) beat Sydney Thunder 15 all-out in 5.5 overs (Thornton 5-3, Agar 4-6) by 124 runs
On a day reserved to pay tribute to the legendary Shane Warne at his home ground – the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground – Melbourne Stars defeated Hobart Hurricanes by 38 runs to bag their first win of BBL 2022-23. Warne, who passed away earlier this year, was remembered with a rousing applause on the 23rd ball of the match, representing his famous jersey number. The Stars also permanently retired the jersey number of their first-ever skipper as a tribute.
Joe Clarke was the standout performer, scoring an unbeaten 101 off 66 on a day when no batter from both teams combined could cross 35. The keeper-batter added 54 in just 5.4 overs with fellow opener Thomas Rogers, the latter being holed out to long-on off Shadab Khan’s wrist-spin. Another 51-run stand followed with Beau Webster, the tall-batter striking one into the third tier of the MCG off Riley Meredith before smashing one straight to Patrick Dooley at cow corner the very next ball.
Marcus Stoinis registered his second straight duck, being cleaned up by Dooley’s mystery left-arm spin. Clarke however, kept runs flowing from his end and completed his hundred in the final over of the innings. His entertaining stay featured nine fours and four sixes.
The Hurricanes never really got going in their chase, with Trent Boult and Luke Wood bowling with fine control first up. The latter removed Ben McDermott in the fourth over, and Adam Zampa had D’Arcy Short caught behind not long after.
Hobart kept crumbling under the sustained pressure of the required rate, and Wood and Zampa bagged two more wickets at the back end to limit them to 145/9 in the allotted 20 overs.
Brief scores
Melbourne Stars 183/5 (Clarke 101*, Webster 24; Meredith 2-38) beat Hobart Hurricanes 145/9 (Wade 35; Wood 3-25, Zampa 3-27, Coulter-Nile 2-24) by 38 runs
