BBL 2022: Thunder registered fourth-highest total; beat Hurricanes by 62 runs
Oliver Davies and Alex Hales both played outstanding innings to help Sydney Thunder achieve the fourth-highest total of 228/6 l in BBL history.
Matthew Wade led the chase and played a quick- fire knock of 67 runs from just 30 balls which kept the Hurricanes in the hunt to pull off the largest chase in BBL history.
But thankfully for the Thunder, veteran all-rounder dismissed the dangerous Wade and the tale was wrapped up quickly by Brendan Doggett. Thunder registered their third straight victory and put their mediocre summer start behind firmly.
Davies and Hales provide solid platform
After the Hurricanes elected to field, English opener Hales provided good support to Davies who blazed to the first half-century of his early BBL career on an extremely batter-friendly track at Albury’s Lavington Sports Ground. He made 65 elegant runs from just 32 balls including 5 sixes and 5 fours.
Hales batted brilliantly right throughout the innings before he was dismissed for a blistering knock of 77 runs in the final over. The English International become the first player to score more than 200 runs in the tournament.
Valiant effort from Wade goes in vain
Chasing a big total like this requires a strong start. However, the Hurricanes got off to a shaky start when Davies caught the dangerous D’Arcy Short at point from Doggett’s bowling, but Wade wasted no time making up for it.
Wade took the attack to the opposition and scored a half century from just 19 balls which equaled his own record of fastest half century by a Hurricane player. He made a total of 67 runs from just 30 deliveries including 6 sixes and two four.
He was looking to pull off an impossible before being picked up by Ben Cutting which was the turning point in the match.
The hard-hitting Tim David was looking good after being promoted in the batting order but was unfortunately run out on 25 runs by substitution Joel Davies.
Once their final two recognized batters, Asif Ali and Shadab Khan, were caught within the span of seven deliveries, the Hurricanes were in serious difficulty and soon fell apart. They were bundled out for 166 in just 17 overs. Dogget was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/35. Thunder defeated the Hurricanes by a margin of 62 runs.
Oliver Davies was declared the man of the match for his quick- fire innings of 65 runs. Both teams will meet again on January 15 in the reverse fixture match.
