BBL 2019-20, Eliminator, Hobart Hurricanes vs Sydney Thunder: 3 reasons why the Thunder won the match
Sydney Thunder displayed a clinical show against Hobart Hurricanes to register a comprehensive 57-run victory at Bellerive Oval, Hobart. With this win, Thunder kept their chances of playing the final alive as they face Adelaide Strikers in the knockout match on Saturday.
Opting to bat first the Thunder openers came out all guns blazing and courtesy their century stand, posted 197-5 in 20 overs.
Chasing 198, Hobart Hurricanes could not keep pace with the asking rate as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and lost all their wickets for 140 runs in 18.3 overs, eventually losing the match by 57 runs.
1. A century-stand between the openers
The Thunder got off to a flying start as their openers Usman Khawaja (54 runs off 34 balls) and Alex Hales (60 runs off 37 balls) came out all guns blazing and sent the ball to all the corners of the ground. The duo looked in sublime form and added 103 runs in just 9.5 overs before Khawaja got trapped in front of the wicket of James Faulkner's (1/39) bowling.
Both the batsmen laid the perfect platform for their team to post a competitive total, outsmarting the Hurricane bowlers and took the game away from the opponent's hands. The partnership also ensured that the Thunder have enough wickets in hand to accelerate the innings in the death overs.
2. Jonathan Cook and Chris Morris were too good with the ball
Thunder's bowling unit enjoyed a clinical outing against the Hurricanes as they did not allow the opponent's batsmen to settle in and score freely. Of their bowlers, leg-spinner Jonathan Cook stole the limelight as he sent both the Hurricanes openers back to the pavilion and opened the door to get past the Hurricanes batting lineup. In his quota of four overs, he gave away just 21 runs and scalped 4 wickets, denting the Hurricane's run chase to an unrecoverable extent.
Cook was ably supported by fast bowler Chris Morris who finished 3/27 in his quota of 4 overs and took the important wicket of George Bailey. Both the bowlers looked in fine tune and tamed the Hurricane's batsmen with ease.
Apart from them Daniel Sams (2/24) and Chris Tremain (1/16) too were economical and made the Thunder's bowling look
3. Hurricanes' batsmen could not build any match-winning partnership
To chase down 198 in 20 overs, Hobart Hurricanes needed some strong partnerships to be built among their batsmen without losing too many. Although the openers Matthew Wade (14 runs off 11 balls) and D Arcy Short (37 runs off 24 balls) gave the hint of building a partnership, they could not convert the start to a big one.
Hurricanes lost their first four wickets for 74 runs in just 8.4 overs. Macalister Wright (5 runs off 8 balls), Ben McDermott (13 runs off 14 balls) and George Bailey (13 runs off 7 balls) failed to rescue the team out of danger and soon followed the openers to the pavilion. Simon Milneko's knock of 28 runs (27 balls) was never going to be enough to reach anywhere near the target.
A couple of big partnerships among the top order batsmen could have kept the Hurricanes in the case. But a collective batting failure handed the match to the Thunder.