Strikers stay alive with dominant win

The match in a tweet: Carey and Weatherald overshadow Wade and Short as reigning champs stay alive at #BBL08 with impressive victory over competition pacesetters.

The Score: Hobart Hurricanes 7-169 (Wade 88, Short 26; Laughlin 3-31) lost to Adelaide Strikers 3-170 (Weatherald 82, Carey 54; Milenko 1-19) by seven wickets with 13 balls remaining

The Hero: Jake Weatherald stole the headlines when he scored a brilliant century to catapult the Strikers past the Hurricanes to the BBL|07 title and his superb 82 against the same opponents on Thursday night was nearly just as good. The classy left-hander got the Strikers' run chase going by taking 20 from a James Faulkner over and kept the scoring going at a good rate as he and Alex Carey (54) put on 116 for the opening wicket. Weatherald continued to find the boundary with ease once Carey departed and, when he was finally dismissed in the 14th over, the required rate was less than a run a ball as the visitors cruised home to remain in touch for a finals berth.

The Supporting Cast: While Weatherald did the majority of the big hitting, Carey chipped in to with some excellent batting on his way to a much-needed half-century. Carey took 20 from one Jofra Archer over, with a powerful straight drive into the crowd the highlight as the Strikers got on top quickly in the run chase.

The Consolation Act: The stats this summer show Matthew Wade is the form batsman in domestic cricket and his knock against the Strikers only backed that up. Wade looked at ease in Launceston as he registered his fifth half-century of BBL|08, although he received some luck as he was dropped on 40 and then again on 86. Wade has the most runs of any player in the JLT Sheffield Shield competition and Hurricanes teammate D'Arcy Short is the only player to have scored more at this tournament. Short could only manage 26 against the Strikers on Thursday, as he was undone by Ben Laughlin.

The Turning Point: It looked like the Hurricanes were cruising to a huge score when they reached 2-128 from 14 overs, with Wade well set at the crease and the dangerous Ben McDermott just getting warm. However, some tight bowling from Rashid Khan (2-28), Michael Neser (2-38) and Laughlin (3-31) - plus a flurry of quick wickets - ensured the hosts fell 15-20 runs short of what they would have liked as they posted 7-169.

The Shot: We have seen the periscope shot before, but we haven't seen Jofra Archer's take on it. We're not sure the Hurricanes quick knew a lot about this one, but we're sure he would have been happy to take four runs. 

The Long Hop: Jake Lehmann is more renowned for his exploits with the bat, so he probably won't want to revisit his one over against the Hurricanes that went for 15. However, we couldn't resist another look at this delivery that Wade gladly accepted and smashed into the crowd with ease.

The Banter: Ben Laughlin was very happy with himself after he dismissed Short for 24. We're glad Short saw the funny side to it and Laughlin at least backed it up with another two wickets in an impressive display with the ball.

The Next Stop: The Hurricanes take on the Melbourne Renegades at Blundstone Arena on Thursday February 5, while the Strikers return home to host the Brisbane Heat on Sunday.

Hobart Hurricanes: Matthew Wade (capt and wk), D'Arcy Short, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, George Bailey, Simon Milenko, James Faulkner, Jofra Archer, Clive Rose, Jarrod Freeman, David Moody

Adelaide Strikers: Alex Carey (wk), Jake Weatherald, Jake Lehmann, Colin Ingram (c), Jon Wells, Harry Nielsen, Cameron Valente, Michael Neser, Rashid Khan, Wes Agar, Ben Laughlin