Matthew Wade wound back the clock on Monday night to see the Hobart Hurricanes come from behind and defeat the Melbourne Renegades by four wickets.
After a sub-par innings with the bat, the Renegades’ frontline quicks set the tempo early in their defence of 163 before leg-spin star Adam Zampa (3/25) ripped through Hobart’s middle order to leave the hosts reeling at 5/94.
Enter, Wade.
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The now-retired Australian wicketkeeper, as he’s so often done for his country and at domestic level, smoked 43 runs off just 20 balls to ensure victory with an over to spare at Ninja Stadium.
With the handy help of Rehan Ahmed (23 off 14), the left-hander got the Hurricanes over the line with two fours and four sixes to his name.
Opener Tim Ward (30 off 26) and Test star Beau Webster (27 off 20) had their moments at the top of the order, but could never get going in the same way that Wade did at the end of the innings.
MATCH CENTRE: Hurricanes vs Renegades final scorecard, stats and more
Pakistani-American all-rounder Hassan Khan and Andrew Tye — on Renegades debut — each chipped in with a wicket at respectable economy rates, but ultimately their side’s target was 10 to 12 runs short of a winning one.
Frustratingly for the visitors, their top five batters all registered scores between 14 and 29, but failed to go on with their promising starts.
Ollie Peake held the title of top scorer, and looked good for his 29 before departing during the Power Surge.
“The disappointing thing about the Renegades’ innings, is no one was able to go on with it. They got some really good starts, and the players looked good,” Australian great Michael Hussey told Fox Cricket.
“That’s probably the difference between the really good teams, and the teams that aren’t quite there yet.”
The Renegades were also granted the luxury of extra fielders inside the ring while batting at the back end of their innings, with the Hurricanes’ slow over rate in the field eventually only allowing them three fielders outside the inner circle for the final two balls of the first innings.
For the six or so balls before that, they only had four fielders in the outfield.
INJURY CHAOS HITS TASMANIA AS KEY COG, PAKISTAN STAR FEEL PAIN
Just hours after Hurricanes superstar Tim David was ruled out for the remainder of the Big Bash, teammate Nikhil Chaudhary suffered what looks to be a concerning shoulder injury.
With the Renegades’ innings in the balance at 3/80 after their first eight overs, Jake Fraser-McGurk blasted a ball to Chaudhary at deep cover.
The 29-year-old had come off the rope, before quickly running back to try and intercept the ball before it went over the rope — but only managed to aid it over the top in a missed catching opportunity.
Amid the attempt though, the all-rounder fell awkwardly on his right shoulder, which saw him lay in discomfort and pause the game for several minutes as he received treatment.
Initial fears indicated Chaudhary may have dislocated his shoulder or hurt his AC joint, but in complete contrast to the state he was in when leaving the ground, came out to bat for the Hurricanes in their chase of 163.
Chaudhary’s injury came almost immediately after Muhammad Rizwan looked to tweak his groin while turning for a run, before getting out the very next ball.
Thankfully for Renegades fans though, the Pakistan recruit was fit enought to keep in the second innings.
‘VINTAGE’ BROWN WINDS BACK CLOCK IN 13-BALL STAY
Eight days is a long time in cricket, just ask Melbourne Renegades opener Josh Brown.
The 32-year-old’s last hit in the middle ironically came against the Hurricanes in Geelong over a week ago, where he struggled through eight balls before departing for a duck.
Come Monday night though, those memories were long gone. The right-hander smashed 16 runs from the opening over of the match to put the hosts’ bowling attack on notice straight away, before racing to 26 off jsut 12 balls.
A Nathan Ellis slower ball was ultimately his downfall, but the promising signs were well and truly back for the opener who first starred in the Big Bash for the Brisbane Heat in BBL|13.
“Big Josh looked like he was back into vintage form, of the days when he was back in Heat colours … it all looked like it was heading towards a Josh Brown special.” Australian wicketkeeping great Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.
Fellow star Michael Hussey added: “He looked really good today, good signs for him and the Renegades moving forward.”
Hobart Hurricanes XI: Mitchell Owen, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Ben McDermott, Nikhil Chaudhary, Matthew Wade (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Chris Jordan, Nathan Ellis (c), Rishad Hossain, Riley Meredith
Melbourne Renegades XI: Josh Brown, Tim Seifert, Muhammad Rizwan (wk), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Oliver Peake, Hassan Khan, Will Sutherland (c), Andrew Tye, Gurinder Sandhu, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff
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