The Hurricanes stormed into third position with a convincing six-wicket victory over the Heat in Hobart last night. Here are my five main takeaways.
1. Hurricanes win fifth straight
The Hobart Hurricanes have surged to third on the BBL table with a fifth straight win, beating the Brisbane Heat by six wickets at Blundstone Arena last night. The Hurricanes were rarely troubled in their pursuit of the Heat’s 8/165, with BBL07 star man D’Arcy Short once again top scoring with 59.
The Heat were probably 20 runs short on a good batting pitch, with their innings stalling once captain Brendon McCullum was dismissed for 51. The Heat are now 4-4 and sitting outside the top four, having played one more game than the Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers.
2. Short keeps slaying
Sportsmen sometimes talk about being in “the zone” and there is no doubt D’Arcy Short is there, with the 27-year-old being in the form of his life. Short has now plundered 416 runs in his last five games and has already set a record for most BBL runs in a season, with at least three more games still to go in this extended season.
Short played some sublime cricket shots last night, with some of his drives and flicks looking effortless against a struggling Heat attack.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
3. Christian pinch hit works
I really liked the move to throw Dan Christian up to number four as a pinch hitter last night, even with Hobart already in control of the game somewhat. Too many times in BBL07 we have seen numbers four and five content to knock the ball around for singles, and their team’s momentum has completely stalled because of it.
The key sometimes is not to care if you get out, and Christian executed that role perfectly, hitting the first ball he faced for six. This took all the wind out of the Heat’s sails, having just picked up the key wicket of George Bailey. Christian hit two more sixes in his nine-ball score of 23, with the equation going from 83 runs off 58 balls when he came in to 45 from 43 when he was dismissed.
4. Bailey at three a good move
Similarly, it was a good move to get Captain George Bailey up to the number three position, even though he scratched around a bit for just 19 from 21 balls. Bailey is too good a player to be batting down at five, and has often come into BBL07 with less than ten overs remaining, struggling to find any rhythm or form.
Once again, Ricky Ponting made a good point in the commentary that, come finals time, you want your top six batsmen to have spent plenty of time in the middle, so shuffling the order is a good strategy to ensure batsmen stay in rhythm and have faced enough balls when you get to the sudden death games.
5. Heat’s quicks targeted
The Brisbane Heat’s fast bowlers will need to be better if the side is to sneak into the finals and have a chance of winning a title this season. It was clear the Hurricanes targeted Mark Steketee, Brendan Doggett, and Ben Cutting last night, with the three combining for figures of 3 for 95 from 9.2 overs.
The Heat don’t really have a specialist death bowler in their ranks, with their quicks quite aggressive in their approach. The Heat are now looking shaky at 4-4 outside the top four and will need to win their remaining two games to be confident of a finals berth.
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