BBL 13 | Twitter reacts as gung-ho Strikers trump McDermott’s lone-warrior heroics in 5-wicket triumph

‌After being asked to bat first on a traditional batting haven, Caleb Jewell spurned the opportunity to turn around his poor form by holing out for five. Jamie Overton (3/23) further earned the Strikers two scalps in the final over of the powerplay before Cameron Boyce replicated the feat in the seventh to have the visitors completely down and out at 36/5. Tim David attempted to rebuild the innings with an uncharacteristically cautious knock of 15, only to succumb in the 12th over with the score 66/6. The Hurricanes seemed resigned to a subpar total thereon after refusing to take any risks even in the first power surge over but Chris Jordan made the floodgates open with a stunning takedown of David Payne in the 15th over, striking two maximums and a boundary. All this while, opener Ben McDermott was watching patiently from the other end and had aggregated 34 runs at nearly run-a-ball but quickly took inspiration from the Englishman to cap off the 23-run over with two more fours. He refused to look back even after Jordan departed for a 15-ball 30 and eventually ended unbeaten on 95 off just 61 deliveries, lacing the knock with seven boundaries and five maximums to take the team to a competitive 165/7.

Unlike their opponents, Matthew Short and D’Arcy Short were no-holds-barred right from the offset. Despite the latter departing for a quickfire 18, the Strikers raced to their highest-ever four-over powerplay score of 57/1 with Chris Lynn ably supporting the Golden Bat holder. By the time the duo were dismissed after a 58-run partnership, the required run rate had whittled down to seven an over with less than 60 runs to get. Kangaroos veteran Alex Carey (36 off 26) ensured there were no further hiccups as the Strikers achieved the target with four balls and five wickets to spare to leapfrog the Hurricanes in the BBL ladder and leave their playoff hopes dangling by a thread.