Adelaide Strikers opening player and reserve captain Matthew Short hit an unbeaten 100 balls from 56 to help his team pass a total of 229 Hurricanes and post the most successful chase in BBL history.
When the equation shrunk to his 12 in the final and Fahim was bowled by his Ashraf, Short propelled him back-to-back towards the milestone and put the striker on the line with his 3-ball. To add icing to the cake, the win also helped end a four-game losing streak.
The Hurricanes had to mess up several drop catches that allowed Short to break free with Chris Lynn, winning 124 off 58 balls. Lynn picked up momentum in this partnership and early in the stands he flipped six and two his fours on Ashraf. After a polite start, the short also got going, Mitchell drew Owen 2 6 in 2 overs and took 6, 4, 4 from Owen’s 2 overs. Short put him up his 51st ball on 30 balls and Lynn got to him in the same over, getting there four balls early.
But just as Lynn was about to tee off with two more sixes after 50, he was picked up by Patrick Dooley, who called for cover. The Hurricanes needed 98 out of 51 after his departure and Short found good company in Adam Horse. The new batsman liked Ashraf and in 17 overs he beat him with 22. Short made sure the Strikers overtook a formidable target while falling in his 18th over.
Earlier in the day, the Strikers’ bowlers, excluding Rashid Khan (4-0-25-0), saw his three batters in Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell and Zach Crowley smash his 50 RBI out of the seed. had a similar penalty when he hit a . . Openers Jewell and McDermott set the tone by posting 75 seconds in the first six overs. Jewell scored just 23 pitches in which he reached 51 RBIs, but right after the rim he lost to the third man. McDermott continued likewise but took 50 balls from 27 to catch deep mid-wicket.
The mantle was then taken away as Crowley and Tim David added 89 off the last 39 balls of the inning to reach their highest BBL total ever, but ultimately to no avail.