A look at the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes, with particular focus on one of the worst major T20 innings ever played by anyone, an effort from Beau Webster than unquestionably cost his side the match. Also a photo gallery.
While listening to commentary from the Australian Open tennis this morning I had a cricinfo tab open to enable myself to keep an eye on goings on in the BBL match between Melbourne Stars and Hobart Hurricanes to decide fifth and six spots in the table.
THE HURRICANESINNINGS
Ben McDermott and Matthew Wade led the way for the Hurricanes after Melbourne Stars put them in to bat. A late flurry from Nathan Ellis, 16 off five balls including two sixes gave Hurricanes 187 to defend, a good but not invincible total.
THE STARS RESPONSE
Glenn Maxwell (32 off 18), Marcus Stoinis (48 off 32) and Hilton Cartwright (14* off eight) all batted well for the Stars, yet in spite of these three doing what is required when chasing a big target Stars never at any stage of the chase looked like favourites. The reason for this was the innings played by Beau Webster. Even with a six off the last ball of the match, by when it was already lost, Webster only boosted his score to 55* off 43 balls. For the majority of his innings his SR was actually less than 100. The result of this piece of stat padding by Mr Webster was that although only four Stars wickets fell in the course of their 20 overs they were beaten by seven runs, to end up sixth in the table. Nathan Ellis, whose late cameo had given the Hurricanes total what proved to be a vital boost, was also the pick of the bowlers, taking 2-29 from his four overs, and was deservedly named Player of the Match. Webster meanwhile has to be regarded as the antithesis of the Player of the Match – his innings cost his side the match. A full scorecard of the match can be viewed here.
Looking at the Big Bash League in the light of today’s game and providing some thoughts about the Power Surge.
The group stage of this tenth edition of the Big Bash League is entering its closing stages, with Sixers clear at the top, Renegades adrift at the bottom (certain not to qualify for the knockouts – 10 points adrift of the last qualifying spot with only eight left to play for) and six teams battling for four spots. From Scorchers in second down to Strikers in seventh the teams are separated by just four points,although third placed Stars have played a game more than the others in this sextet.
The Thunder, who had looked comfortable were dragged into the maelstrom when the Hurricanes beat them in a rain affected game, successfully chasing a DLS adjusted target. Yesterday Scorchers absolutely thrashed Heat to claim second spot in the group. This sets the stage for…
THE MELBOURNE DERBY
Stars had a chance of going second as they took on rock bottom Renegades today. The Stars batted first, and bizarrely the first over of the match was a maiden. Andre Fletcher failed to get going properly, taking eight balls to get off the mark, and getting out after hitting two fours, which gave him 11 off 14 balls. Nick Larkin came in at three, and he too struggled for a large part of his innings. The Power Play overs ended with Stars 27-1. In the ninth over Stoinis, who had been doing most of the scoring, fell for 37 to make it 58-2, Coulter-Nile, a fast bowler who has had some success with his big hitting batting was promoted with a view to increasing the Bash Boost target. Unfortunately the gamble back fired as he was out first ball to make it 58-3. That brought Maxwell in, and at the end of the tenth it was 63-3, a modest halfway score. Maxwell fell early in the second half of the innings, and by the end of the 15th, with a Power Surge to come, Stars had put up the 100, Larkin still there, but as yet having done little to impress.
Finally, with the score 111-4 after 16, Stars took the Power Surge. They fared reasonably well, scoring 21 runs and losing two wickets in those two overs, which left them on 132-6 after 18. They then did produce a big finish, 26 off the last two overs to total 158-6 from their 20. Larkin after taking 28 balls to reach 20 finished 61 not out off 47, 41 off his last 19 balls, but his dilatoriness in those first 28 would come back to haunt his team.
Renegades began dreadully in reply, limping to 17-2 in their Power Play overs. They improved in overs 5-10 but were still 10 runs adrift at the half way point, 53-3 as opposed to 63-3. They too were slow in claiming their Power Surge, waiting to the end of the 15th, at which point they were 96-4. They made decent use of the two over Surge, but still required 41 off three overs to win. Over number 18 was a big one for them, reducing the ask to 25 off 12 balls, and then the 19th settled it, 19 runs in total coming from it, leaving Renegades six to get in the final over. A boundary for Webster, taking him to 22 off nine balls, finished things, but the real key was Harvey, 47 not out off 22 balls, an innings that deservedly earned him the Player of the Match award. It was perhaps fitting that an attack minded left hander named Harvey should play the key role in settling a match between two Melbourne based sides.
POWER SURGE THOUGHTS
Of the three innovations in this years Big Bash League the Power Surge is the one that intrigues me the most. The ‘x-factor sub’ belongs in the circular file, the Bash Boost point is proving to be a huge success, and I also like the concept of the Power Surge, but feel that its application has been lacking, with sides too inclined to leave it late and therefore ending up not really benefitting from it (nb Brian Charles Lara who knows a bit about batting is on my side on this one).
The infographic I created for this post, which you will have seen at the head of it, and which reappears to end this section, outlines my thoughts on this issue, and I will add to it just this: sides going into the second half of their innings should be inclined to go early rather than late with the Power Surge and should delay it only if there are strong reasons, such as a wicket falling in the tenth over, for doing so. I can see no merit at all in using it any later than overs 15 and 16, as you should be getting big runs off the closing overs anyway even without the extra fielding restrictions.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have two galleries to share with you today, the first featuring my newest acquisitions, and the second my regular fare:
aspiblog 