Adelaide Strikers 5 for 171 (Weatherald 51, Imad 2-13) beat Melbourne Renegades 111 all out (Harvey 34, Siddle 3-16, Agar 3-23) by 60 runs
Jake Weatherald‘s fastest half-century in the BBL from the middle order has helped the Adelaide Strikers return to form, as the Melbourne Renegades season went from bad to worse with another epic collapse leading to their seventh straight loss.
Batting at No.5 for just the second time in his T20 career Weatherald thumped 51 off 25 balls in a rollicking 96-run partnership with Ryan Gibson to take the Strikers from a precarious position at 4 for 72 and post a competitive 5 for 171. Gibson made 43 not out from 31.
The Renegades spinners had put the Strikers in a huge hole with Imad Wasim claiming 2 for 13 but he strangely only bowled three overs as skipper Aaron Finch got his calculations wrong.
Finch’s night was capped by a first-ball duck at the start of the chase but the Renegades were in control of the chase at one stage thanks to a 67-run stand from Mackenzie Harvey and Sam Harper. However, they suffered another trademark collapse to be all out for 111.
Danny Briggs (2-17) and Rashid Khan (1-21) started the squeeze before Wes Agar and peter Siddle finished the job picking three wickets each.
Renegades recruits come good
The Renegades recruited specifically to make spin their biggest weapon but their big spin guns had barely fired a shot in the tournament to date. In the first 11 overs Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad delivered seven overs between them claiming 3 for 46. They squeezed Matt Renshaw and Alex Carey before the pair relented at the wrong time having set themselves to get to the Power Surge unscathed. Renshaw holed out trying to slog-sweep Nabi for the second ball in a row. Then Jon Wells and Carey holed out off Imad in the 11th over trying to avoid the run-rate dipping below 7. Imad’s had figures of 2 for 13 from 3 overs and the rate fell to 6.54.
More to follow
Alex Malcolm is a freelance writer based in Melbourne
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