Wade, Short ensure 'Canes run continues

The match in a tweet: Dynamic duo Wade and Short continue scintillating form as Hurricanes move three games clear on top of #BBL08 ladder by crushing Strikers in Adelaide!

The score: Adelaide Strikers 5-154 (Ingram 67no; Archer 2-23, Faulkner 2-24) lost to Hobart Hurricanes 0-158 (Wade 84no, Short 73no) by 10 wickets with 19 balls remaining

The hero: We could have given it to either Matthew Wade (84no) or D'Arcy Short (73no), but we opted for the veteran due to the fact his strike rate was better than that of his opening partner. Wade leads all run scorers in the JLT Sheffield Shield this season and he's high up the charts in the Big Bash competition. Wade made it look easy against the Strikers as he scored with ease on both sides of the wicket, smashing three massive sixes and eight fours during his 49-ball knock. Wade and Short never really got out of first gear against a quality Strikers' attack, cruising home with more than three overs remaining.

The Stat: So good have Wade and Short been at BBL|08 that they became the first pair in the history of the competition to score 500 runs in partnerships in a single tournament. The pair have combined for two partnerships in excess of 100 runs and another of 95 so far this season and when they both fire the Hurricanes are near impossible to defeat.

The supporting cast: The Hurricanes' bowling unit is one of the best in the business, with the sheer pace of Riley Meredith and Jofra Archer, complimented beautifully by the variety from James Faulkner and the experience from spin duo Clive Rose and Johan Botha. The Strikers couldn't get away Archer (2-23) or Faulkner (2-24) for more than a run a ball, while Rose (0-28) bowled the final over of the innings and was economical himself. Hurricanes skipper Wade has a bevy of bowling options at his disposal and they all possess something slightly different, so it's no surprise to see them sitting pretty at the top of the BBL ladder some three games clear of their nearest rival.

The consolation act: There aren't too many T20 batsmen in the world that are better to watch than Colin Ingram in full flight and that's exactly what the South African was on Monday night. The man called Bulldozer smashed an unbeaten 67 from just 36 deliveries, with his innings including six fours and three massive sixes. Ingram didn’t get much support from his teammates, with Alex Carey (28) and Jon Wells (28) the only other batsmen to contribute scores of any note. The only knock on Ingram’s decent knock was that he might have waited a bit too long to up the run rate, with the Strikers skipper not really getting going until he took 22 runs from the penultimate over of the innings. It probably meant the Strikers were 20 runs short of par on what looked a good Adelaide Oval pitch.

The Catch: Riley Meredith may have made the relatively simple look somewhat difficult, but we liked this outfield effort that the Hurricanes speedster managed to hold on to at the second attempt. 

This crowd catch caught the eye too, with the degree of difficulty pretty high given the large amount of people in the same seating bay.

The next stops: The Strikers travel to Victorian country town Moe to tackle the Melbourne Stars on Wednesday afternoon, while the Hurricanes take on the Sixers at the SCG that same night in an eagerly awaited BBL double header.

Adelaide Strikers: Jake Weatherald, Alex Carey (wk), Matt Short, Colin Ingram (c), Jonathan Wells, Cameron Valente, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Ben Laughlin, Liam O'Connor, Billy Stanlake

Hobart Hurricanes: D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (wk), Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, George Bailey (c), Simon Milenko, James Faulkner, Johan Botha, Jofra Archer, Clive Rose, Riley Meredith