THE Adelaide Strikers have won the 2017-18 edition of the Big Bash League, defeating the Hobart Hurricanes by 25 runs in Sunday’s final.
The Strikers’ total or 202 was too high a mountain for Hobart to climb, as the visitors finished their 20 overs 5/177 at Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide captain Travis Head was emotional after the win, his voice cracking as he told Channel 10’s Tim Gossage how much the win meant to the entire organisation.
“Wow, that’s unbelievable really. That’s amazing. Pretty special,” he said.
“There were probably questions over the squad, we got in a lot of different guys and they were exceptional. They were unbelievable. They backed each other and had different skills. It was easy to use them. Each one brought a different unique style which has worked a treat.
I couldn’t fault the bowlers. The bowlers were unbelievable. The batters probably started a bit slowly but they gave us opportunities to win games at the start. They’re unbelievable.”
Jake Weatherald went bananas in the South Australian capital, making history in the process.
The opener hit eight sixes as he amassed the biggest individual score in a final, plundering 115 from just 70 balls. His maximum count is the most ever recorded in a decider, beating the previous best of five.
His outstanding knock, supported by Head’s 44 not out, propelled Adelaide to the highest ever score in a BBL final and despite some promising signs early, Hobart couldn’t keep up the pace.
George Bailey (46) led the way in the powerplay as the Hurricanes finished the first six overs at 1/60. But scoring became much tougher when the field went out and increased pressure led to wickets falling at regular intervals.
Bailey was caught in the deep and Ben McDermott was next to go, trapped LBW for nine. D’Arcy Short was trying his best and top scored with 68, but he couldn’t do it all himself and when he was caught behind Hobart’s hopes disappeared.
Peter Siddle was outstanding with the ball, taking 3/17 off four overs as he capped off a spectacular season. He took 11 wickets for the tournament at the stingy economy rate of 5.94.
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