BBL08 Match 14: A Moment in Time Gives Strikers the Advantage

While it is not always possible to nail down one single moment when a game of cricket is won or lost, there are occasionally ones that stick out like a sore thumb, where the moment and consequences following it seem to be that single difference. Such can be said to be the case for the New Years Eve clash between the Strikers and the Thunder where one particular moment can be singled out as a match killer.

On the final ball of the 14th over of the Adelaide Strikers innings in their match against the Sydney Thunder, Colin Ingram, who was on 44 runs off 30 deliveries at the time, hit a full toss from Chris Green to deep mid-wicket, where Jason Sangha ran in a few metres and then dropped what was a relatively easy catch at this level of cricket.

At the time the Thunder had been dragging themselves back into a match they had been losing grip of. The Strikers had been 1/106 off the first ten overs and looked as though 200 was going to be a minimum chase. The single that Ingram took from the ball he was dropped on meant that the Strikers had only scored 1/19 off the previous 27 deliveries. Ingram’s wicket at this stage would have meant two new batsmen at the crease, and the Thunder would have been back in control.

The next over, Thunder captain Shane Watson decided to bring on young rookie spinner Cook to bowl. It was a tough ask for the young man at a crucial time of the match. Ingram, who should have been in the pavilion, took advantage of this decision, and went 6,6,1,1 (to Matt Short), 6,1. In total 21 runs came off the over. It felt like a turning point.

Still, despite the first ten overs, and this particular over, the Thunder managed to restrict the Strikers to 4/175 which while not perfect was a lot less than they should have been chasing. Chris Green (0/18 from 4) and Daniel Sams (2/24 from 4) were excellent. The Thunder need Jos Buttler and Watson to go big if they were to be a chance, but with both going for 23 and 28 respectively it was always going to be an uphill battle after that. Rashid Khan got his usual two wickets, while golden arm Peter Siddle returned from the Test reserve bench again to take 3/20 from his four overs including the big wickets of Ferguson (47 off 39) and Joe Root (18 off 11) when they were looking to break loose. With the Thunder finishing on 6/155, the Strikers won by 20 runs. It might appear comfortable, but if you go back to that one over of the Strikers innings after Ingram was dropped, there was 21 taken for it, as well as the run taken when the catch was dropped. That’s 22 runs. There’s your match.

Does that one moment become the difference between winning and losing? Statistically in the way I have offered it, then yes. Over the course of the match? Maybe not so definitively. But if that catch was taken it most certainly would have been a different match from that point onwards, and I’m sure Shane Watson has thought about his decision to bowl Cook in that over a number of times since.