BBL08 Match 3: Thunder Beat the Rain and Dull Stars

Much as with yesterday’s match, there is another way that T20 cricket can come to an unsatisfying conclusion, and that is when rain intervenes and causes the match to be reduced even further to cobble together a result. Generally it becomes a disappointment for the crowd that has shown up, not the least because they’ve seen even less cricket than they thought they would. The result can feel contrived under these circumstances as they strive to ensure a victory is achieved for one team, and what could have been a terrific chase on this occasion was cut short as the Thunder managed to hold out the Stars in their eight over bash.

There was a lot to like about the junior ranks of Australian – and world – cricket on the evening. While the experienced Buttler, Watson and Root all made starts then fell for the Thunder, it was the inexperienced duo of Jason Sangha and Daniel Sams who turned what could have been an average score into a good score.

Sangha was a little scrappy for his first ten runs, but after that played some sublime strokes. Since his excellent innings for the PMXI against South Africa Sangha has found a true belief in his ability and he has made the most of it. He played shots all around the ground, hard pulls and wristy drives, and guided his team through the middle overs. He appears much more mature than 19 years of age and continues to impress with every innings he plays. He finished on 63 not out off 36 deliveries with four boundaries and four sixes. It was a terrific innings.

Sams is a promising allrounder who likes to hit the ball hard and had a great JLT Cup for NSW. He was dropped twice and landed one just short of the fielder in his first five deliveries but connected cleanly after that. He was missed three times in his innings and the luck fell his way but he went out there with a job in mind and increased the momentum when it was needed. Coupled with this was his bowling as the Stars chased 90 runs off 8 overs to win. He bowled two overs of his left arm medium fast bowling and took 3/5 with the wickets of Dean, Gulbis and Maxwell with good full straight deliveries. He will be one to follow this summer in this form of the game.

For the Stars, the two legspinners were terrific to watch as they carved their way through the batting with their guile and spin. Adam Zampa again showed why he is so good in this format, changing his pace and spin to keep the batsmen guessing as to what was coming next. He deceived both English Test stars Buttler and Root to take their wickets, a handy evening. 

The most exciting bowling of the night came from young Nepalese sensation Sandeep Lamichhane. He had Watson caught at long on with his second delivery, and then had Callum Ferguson taking a leading edge for the simplest of return catches with his sixth delivery, before a big shout for LBW against Sangha could have seen him have three wickets in his first seven deliveries. He lost his length a little in his final couple of overs but it was a terrific spell from the young man who will be great to watch this summer. 

The Stars eventually fell 15 runs short of the difficult target and they will feel as though they probably let a chance slip with catches in the field before the rain made it even more difficult for them. The Thunder didn’t even use their star strike bowler Fawad Ahmed because of the wet ball, and they will be confident moving forward of a good season with both bat and ball. Once again though, as fun and exciting as T20 cricket can be, it is matches like this that leave you with an empty feeling of disappointment in the format.