In an instant classic against the Hurricanes, Matt Short hits an unbroken century to lead the Adelaide Strikers to the largest-ever chase in BBL history. Matt Short made his leadership debut with a magnificent maiden T20 century, assisting the Adelaide Strikers in pulling off the biggest run chase in BBL history.
BBL12, Record breaker
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Short crushed Pakistan paceman Faheem Ashraf for back-to-back boundaries in the 20th over to reach his century and win by seven wickets with three balls to spare after the Hurricanes scored an impressive 4-229 on Thursday night.
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With usual skipper Peter Siddle out with a back injury, Short celebrated his temporary leadership by smashing 100no off 59 balls. Short got two lives off Riley Meredith’s bowling – a dropped first ball by Mitch Owen and a sitter by Nathan Ellis on 22 – and he made the ‘Canes pay. After Ryan Gibson (five) left early, Short and Chris Lynn (64) put 124 off 58 balls for the second wicket to make Adelaide’s ambition a reality.
During the power surge, Lynn hammered four sixes in his blistering 29-ball innings before succumbing to excellent spinner Paddy Dooley (2-25). On 20, English import Adam Hose holed out to Tim David at mid-on but was given a reprieve when third umpire Eloise Sheridean ruled Faheem’s full-toss was higher than waist-height. Hose promptly blasted the free hit for six, one of three sixes he hit in Faheem’s over, which yielded 22.
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Hose ultimately dropped for 38 before an even higher high full toss from the struggling Faheem in the 20th over gave Short another easy hit. Dooley sustained a terrible injury to his left shoulder while diving to preserve a boundary in the 19th over, exacerbating the anguish for the Hurricanes, who seemed to be invincible at the midway point.
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Ben McDermott (57), Caleb Jewell (54), and Zak Crawley (54no) each hit half-centuries to help the Hurricanes set a club record. The visitors hit 14 sixes in their innings and seemed to be on pace to make it two victories in five days against the Strikers while condemning Adelaide to a fourth consecutive loss when Short stole the show.