Hobart Hurricanes 0 for 158 (Wade 84*, Short 73*) beat Adelaide Strikers 5 for 154 (Ingram 67, Archer 2-23, Faulkner 2-24) by 10 wickets
Matthew Wade and D'Arcy Short dismantled Adelaide Strikers to record only the second ever 10-wicket victory in the eight-year history of the Big Bash League, at the same time extending their lead at the top of the competition table.
Perth Scorchers had done the trick over Melbourne Renegades via the innings of Shaun Marsh and Michael Klinger in December 2015, getting to a target of 171 with eight balls remaining. But Wade and Short continued to lead the way for the Hurricanes, the captain working as the initial aggressor before Short began to catch-up, reeling in the Strikers with a yawning 19 balls to spare.
They had been given a more than manageable task by the excellence of the Hurricanes' attack, Jofra Archer and James Faulkner keeping the Strikers very quiet, even if Colin Ingram was able to find the range of Riley Meredith late in the hosts' innings.
Archer hits the mark
A strength of the Hurricanes this tournament has been the sheer depth of their attack, with Archer, Faulkner, Meredith and Johan Botha all playing key roles at varying times - the first three all having topped 10 wickets for the BBL so far. So when the Strikers got a hold of Meredith at Adelaide Oval after his early dismissal of Jake Weatherald, others were ready to take up the strain, namely Archer.
Across four overs, all bowled non consecutively, Archer conceded only one boundary while at the same time picking up the more than useful wickets of Matt Short and Rashid Khan. More so than the wickets, it was Archer's sheer discipline that maintained pressure and opened up avenues for others, including Faulkner, who picked up a pair of victims of his own during a spell in which he conceded only one more run than Archer.
Ingram holds it together
At 3 for 50 in the 10th over after the loss of Alex Carey, the Strikers were staring at a total well short of 150 on what appeared an excellent Adelaide pitch. In the absence of Travis Head, Colin Ingram has proven himself to be a creditable captain with the bat and in the field, leading his team's run-makers in the process. This night he provided another indicator the Strikers had made a wise choice, as he produced a salvaging innings of quality.
Starting with a clean blow over midwicket off the bowling of Botha, Ingram found a useful ally in Jon Wells, building up to the 19th over from Merddith in which he piled up 22 runs to ensure the Strikers made it past the 150 mark. If he was unable to be quite as damaging to Clive Rose in the final over of the innings, Ingram had still given what looked to be a potentially defensible total. Looked to be.
Wade goes off
Hobart's ascendancy has often been started by the way that Wade and Short have been able to dictate terms, and it wasn't long before the captain had Strikers fans starting to think about making an early exit from Adelaide Oval. The usually excellent Rashid Khan dropped short to be pulled for four in the second over, and the Hurricanes scarcely looked back from there.
Wade took a particular liking to his erstwhile Australia team-mate Billy Stanlake, hammering the tall Queenslander for 26 from 12 balls faced, while Ben Laughlin and Michael Neser also conceded strike rates of more than 200 runs to Wade. For a time it appeared as though Wade might get as far as three figures, before a previously conservative Short took over.
Short finishes off
A criticism of Short during his international career so far has been a tendency to soak up too many balls before getting out. But with a confident and aggressive partner in Wade, he has been able to pace himself this BBL, with often devastating effect.
As the Hurricanes closed in on the win, Short crashed 28 runs from his final nine balls, including 17 off Rashid's last over. With the finals beckoning, the Hurricanes could scarcely be rolling along any better.
