When Adelaide Strikers had posted a total of 139/9 at Sydney Showground Stadium, it seemed like Sydney Thunder will cruise to the target but a collapse to remember for ages was in store. Strikers' pacers Henry Thornton and Wes Agar rushed through Thunder's batting lineup to bundle them out for a paltry 15 in just 34 balls. Thunder lost the match by a massive margin of 124 runs.
The previous lowest total in men's T20 cricket history was 21 which was registered by Turkey against Czech Republic in 2019. In Big Bash League (BBL) history, the lowest total was 57 by Melbourne Renegades against Melbourne Stars in 2015 edition of the tournament.
Not a single Thunder batter could score in double digits. As many as five batters could not open their accounts and departed for ducks.
Matthew Short drew the first blood with the wicket of Matthew Gilkes off the third delivery of the innings. In the next over, Henry Thornton got Rilee Rossouw and skipper Jason Sangha's wickets. Surprisingly, Short did not get to bowl his second over. Wes Agar was introduced into the attack and he got the wicket of opener Alex Hales. He followed it up with the wicket of Daniel Sams in the same over. Half the side was back in the pavillion for nine runs in the third over.
No batter could score in double digits. No.10 batter Brendan Doggett turned out to be the only one who scored a boundary in the innings. Thornton completed his fifer in the third over he bowled. He conceded just three runs and bowled a maiden as well. Thornton’s partner-in-crime Agar picked up four wickets as well.
Thunder got all out in the powerplay overs itself. Interestingly, Strikers' prime wicket-taker Rashid Khan did not bowl a single delivery in the match.
Earlier, Strikers openers Short (9) and Jake Weatherald (10) got out cheaply. With Adam Hose's wicket, they lost three wickets in the powerplay overs. T20 specialists Chris Lynn and Colin de Grandhomme helped them recover. However, the two could not go on to get big scores. Lynn scored 36 runs from 27 deliveries including four fours and one six. Grandhomme scored 33 runs from 24 deliveries including two fours and as many sixes. Towards the end, Strikers lost too many wickets and managed to post 139/9.
