Thommo’s Takes: SuperCoach BBL Round 9 wrap

Welcome to our review article at SC Playbook where we review the action from the previous round and see what impact it had on our side and what we can learn from it.

With three teams on the double and only one on the bye, it loomed as a big round for some.

Unfortunately, team changes were plentiful and some teams didn’t have as many players on the double as we initially planned. Let’s take a look at the round 9 action!

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Hurricanes vs Stars

Result: Hurricanes won by 2 wickets

Takes:

• One of the more weird (perhaps a polite way of saying uninspiring) BBL matches. A reluctance to take a power surge and some panicked batting meant the game was much closer than it should have been.
• Changes aplenty for both teams. For the home side in purple Wade, Paris and Parker were missing and replaced by Short, Owen and Andrews. Dooley missed his second straight game with a finger injury. For the away team in green Stoinis, Kellaway and Boult were replaced by Seymour, Hinchliffe and Hatcher.
• It was a much improved bowling performance from the Hurricanes unit.
• Captain Ellis led by example with a stingy 2/12 off 4 overs and was robbed of a plumb LBW too. You can’t waste that referral hoping for a wicket!
• Meredith almost opened the match with a maiden and was tidy with 2/25 off his 4 overs.
• Some wickets for Ashraf for owners who held, 2/29 off his 4 over.

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• 5^th bowler duties were shared between David (2 overs), Short (1 over) and Owen (1 over).
• Cartwright was again very good for the Stars, batting at number 3, finishing with 57 off 47.
• Seymour batted with intent in his late cameo, 20 off just 7 balls.
• Popular trade in Beau Webster had plenty of opportunity with the bat, including batting during the power surge. He just couldn’t hit it out of the middle, or when he did, they went straight to the fielder. 27 off 35 balls.
• Another target for some for the DGR, Joe Clarke, was dismissed for just 4 runs. Not ideal but just remember what he did in the second game of a DGR last time!
• Caleb Jewell continued on his hot streak. He looked like he was batting on a different pitch to the rest of the Hurricanes. 70 off 44!
• Hatcher and Coulter-Nile captured multiple wickets, but it’s hard to take anything too seriously with one of the most bizarre collapses that almost cost the Hurricanes victory and they certainly missed a chance to improve their NRR.

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Strikers vs Renegades

Result: Strikers won by 20 runs

Takes:

• Again the theme of mass changes continued in this game. Manenti and Boyce were included in place of Khan and Thornton. It will be interesting to see if Thornton is included in the next match at the MCG. For the Renegades, Mujeeb, Hosein and Harvey were replaced by Kellapotha, Critchley and Moody.
• A real team effort from the Strikers to post a total of over 200. Short with 38, Gibson with 24, Hose with 33, CDG with 32, but the hero was Lynn with an unbeaten 69 off just 37. Incredible when it came to light post match that he had been battling illness for the past couple of days too!
• Chalk and cheese for Moody in game two. 0/43 off his 4 overs.
• Ruwantha Kellepotha was more than handy on debut. 2/32 off his 4 overs and it could have been better with a very simple chance going down off his bowling too!
• Richo looked sore and his figures demonstrate he wasn’t at his best. 1/62 off his 4 overs as he was very expensive.
• Sutherland continued to perform in an all rounder role at a high level. 1/16 off his 3 overs and a quick fire 31 off 14 with the bat when chasing quick runs at the end.
• New import Critchley with a first average bowling outting (1 over for 19!) but showed signs with the bat. Coming in at number 6 he made 33 not out off 19 balls.
• Harper showing us he is not just a flash in the pan, carrying his form into this game too! 63 off 36, batting at number 3.
• Agar and Short with the best figures for the Strikers. 2/26 off 4 overs for both players. Short bowling 2 overs in the powerplay too.
• Conway was expensive as was Manenti, but Manenti did strike twice for the Strikers.
• Boyce with his first game for the tournament and one in which we would expect he will get better. 0/35 in his first outing.
• Will Siddle and/or Thornton to come back into the side for the second match of the DGR. It will be very interesting to see!
• CDG didn’t take the field and looks like he’s done a hammy. Not good for the number one fan club ticket holder Mr Tim Williams.
• Just a quick moment to appreciate how much of a gun Matt Short is. It is easy to get blasé but lets have a quick look at his number for the first game of a DGR. 38 runs off 22 balls for a strike rate of 173. 4 overs for 2/26. Two catches on the night. 142 SC points. The obvious VC/C sure did deliver!

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Heat vs Scorchers

Result: Scorchers won by 8 wickets.

Takes:

• Yet again changes were in order for both sides. The Heat practically selected a whole new team for this one. Out were Munro (ILT20), Billings (ILT20), Swepson, Steketee and McSweeney (bit stiff I reckon!). They were replaced by captain Khawaja (on Heat debut), Bartlett, Johnson (debut), Marnus and Renshaw. For the ladder leaders, Hatzoglou and Agar returned in place of The Wild Thing and Connolly.
• Lots of small contributions for the Heat, but no one made that large score so they could set a defendable total.
• Brown looks like he enjoys the Gabba wicket. He was about to tee off before a very unlucky dismissal on 18.
• Max Bryant batted at number 6 and made 36 off 27 balls.
• People who went early on Marnus weren’t rewarded in this match. Tens runs and one expensive over with the ball.
• Behrendorff was the clear pick of the bowlers for Perth. Most overs were completed early except for one over that was saved to be used during the power surge. 3/21 off his 4 overs and he looks like he was the Perth bowler to pick this round. Fingers crossed he is not rested for the second match for owners.
• Tye bowled his usual over but could not pick up late wickets, like he normally does. 1/38 off his 4 and one very handy catch.
• 2 overs for Turner. No overs for Hardie.
• No wickets for Agar and Hatzoglou.
• Kelly bowled the first and last over of the Heat innings. He was expensive in his first over and then was hard to get away in his second over and even picked up two wickets!
• The Scorchers won the game easily off an unbeaten 132 partnership between Hardie and Inglis. Both looked in unreal touch. Owners will be hoping they can deliver the same again in the second match of their double.
• The fifth bowler option was equally shared between Marnus, Renshaw and Whiteley for the Heat. This will be interesting to monitor going forward to see if this is tactically what they want to do, or if this was forced because Marnus was so expensive in his only over.

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Stars vs Strikers

Result: Stars won by 9 wickets.

Takes:

• Changes for the Strikers for their second match. Siddle and Thornton were back in place of Conway and CDG. The Stars were unchanged from their previous match in the round.
• One over in and it looked like what we all expected. Short reaching 20 in quick time and Luke Wood was being dispatched to all parts of the MCG. Then something bizarre happened….
• Only 88 runs for the rest of the innings as the Strikers totally collapsed as the Stars bowlers went crazy.
• Only Hose and Nielsen offered any sort of resistance and they both looked scratchy at times.
• Many positives for the Stars from a bowling perspective in what has been a lean season for them.
• Hatcher backed up his positive first game with 2/18 off his 4 overs including the big scalps of Short and Lynn.

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• Zampa with his best performance for a while, taking 2/20 off his 4 overs.
• Timmy Williams moved quickly on from CDG and again jumped on the bandwagon of NCN for the DGR. You could tell he was excited and I think he was the one who called for the DRS off Manenti and actually not Zampa! 3/17 for NCN in another impressive performance.
• Only 1 economical over for Webster.
• The inclusion of Hinchliffe has hurt Webster’s overs and he could be considered a sell in the coming rounds.
• A professional run chase from the Stars.
• Both Clarke and Rogers did the job scoring 35 and 51 respectively.
• No wickets captured by any Adelaide bowlers on a sour night for them. The only wicket came via a run out from Ryan Gibson.

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Thunder vs Scorchers

Result: Scorchers won by 9 wickets.

Takes:

• Warner was back in Thunder colours for the first time for a long time. He replaced Alex Hales. For the Scorchers, Payne and Morris were included for Hatzoglou and Behrendorff (rested).
• Powerplay overs were bowled by Payne and Morris for the Scorchers. Both were able to pick up a wicket and give the Scorchers some momentum early.
• I’ve personally been very slow to jump on the bandwagon, but I am officially on the hype train for Ollie Davies. Some of the shots were outstanding as he was the only shining light for the Thunder. 52 off 36.
• Even though it was a slightly different bowling attack for the Scorchers, it was business as usual as every bowler took at least one wicket.
• Left-armer and Behrendorff clone Payne was exceptional in his first game, taking 2/20. The Wild Thing was economical as he took 2/21. Kelly bowled more middle overs in this match and it worked as he took 2/11 of his 3 overs. Agar copped some stick from Davies early but fought back to capture his wicket and finish with 1/31 off his 4 overs. Andrew Tye was doing Andrew Tye things, including running through the tail to finish with figures of 3/27 off his 4 overs. This included a wicket maiden in the power surge!
• Warner scored 19 off 20, where he looked okay but not at his explosive best. Is he still in Maxy’s trade in plans this week?
• A fantastic opening stand meant the Scorchers got home easily. 40 for Eskinazi and an unbeaten 55 for Bancroft.
• McAndrew was the best bowler for the Thunder and took their only wicket.
• Another quiet night for Sams with bat and ball. Coming back from the groin injury and I also noticed quite a bit of taping on his elbow when he was batting. Hopefully he hits form again soon.