BBL7 - Hurricanes v Heat Recap - My 5 Takes
1. Hurricanes win Fifth Straight
The Hobart Hurricanes have surged to third on the BBL table with a fifth straight win, beating the Brisbane Heat by six wickets at Blundstone Arena last night. The Hurricanes were rarely troubled in their pursuit of the Heat's 8/165, with BBL7 star man D'Arcy Short once again top scoring with 59. The Heat were probably 20 runs short on a good batting pitch, with their innings stalling once captain Brendon McCullum was dismissed for 51. The Heat are now 4-4 and sitting outside the Top 4, having played one more game than the Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades and Adelaide Strikers.
2. Short Keeps Slaying Team
Sportsmen sometimes talk about being in "The Zone" and there is no doubt D'Arcy Short is there, with the 27 year old being in the form of his life. Short has now plundered 416 runs in his last 5 games and has already set a record for most BBL runs in a season, with at least three more games still to go in this extended season. Short played some sublime cricket shots last night, with some of his drives and flicks looking effortless against a struggling Heat attack.
3. Christian Pinch Hit Works
I really liked the move to throw Dan Christian up to Number 4 as a pinch hitter last night, even with Hobart already in control of the game somewhat. I think too many times in BBL7 we have seen Number 4 and Number 5 batsmen content to knock the ball around for singles, and their team’s momentum has completely stalled because of it. The key sometimes is not to care if you get out, and Christian executed that role perfectly, hitting the first ball he faced for six. This took all the wind out of the Heat’s sail, having just picked up the key wicket of D'Arcy Short. Christian hit two more sixes in his 9-ball score of 23, with the equation going from 83 runs off 58 balls when he came in, to 45 from 43 when he was dismissed.
4. Bailey at Three a God Move
Similarly, I thought it was a good move to get Captain George Bailey up to the Number 3 position, even though he scratched around a bit for just 19 from 21 balls. Bailey is too good a player to be batting down at Number 5, and has often come into BBL7 with less than 10 overs remaining, struggling to find any rhythm or form. Once again, Ricky Ponting made a good point in the commentary that, come final’s time, you want your Top 6 batsmen to have spent plenty of time in the middle, so shuffling the order is a good strategy to ensure batsmen stay in rhythm and have faced enough balls when you get to the sudden death games.
5. Heat’s Quicks Targeted
The Brisbane Heat’s fast bowlers will need to be better if the side is to sneak into the finals and have a chance of winning a title this season. It was clear the Hurricanes targeted Steketee, Doggett, and Cutting last night, with them combining for figures of 3 for 95 from 9.2 overs. The Heat don't really have a specialist death bowler in their ranks, with their quicks site aggressive in their approach. The Heat are now looking shaky at 4-4 outside the Top 4 and will need to win their remaining 2 games to be confident of a finals berth.