Week 1 My Review (KFC BBL 2019/20)
Week 1 of the KFC BBL was a highly enthralling one from the perspective of a viewer. There were some standout performers as you would expect. The likes of Callum Ferguson of the Sydney Thunder and Josh Philippe of the Sydney Sixers jump off the page as standouts. From a bowling perspective Ben Dwarshuis was among the best, because he was economical and took a couple of wickets.
Tuesday December 17th
Heat v Thunder
Callum Ferguson should deservedly steal a lot of the headlines with an impressive not out innings of 73 runs off 44 balls. Mitchell Swepson of the Heat bizzarely bowled just the 2 overs after he took 2 wickets. Zahir Kahn was the only bowler used by the Heat who failed to take a wicket. When it was the Thunder’s turn to ball Nathan McAndrew was the only bowler utilized who failed to take a wicket. The Thunder deservedly won the game by 29 runs.
Wednesday December 18th
Sixers v Scorchers
The Scorchers batted first and struggled throughout their innings with the loss of 4 wickets fairly early in their innings; they failed to recover and staggered to a total of 131 runs. The Sixers were comfortable throughout their run chase with all 4 of their batsmen that batted reaching double figures and therefore they were victorious by 8 wickets.
Thursday December 19th
Renegades v Thunder
The Renegades started the game extremely well, losing just 5 wickets for the 20 over innings in its entirety. Jack Wildermuth was the only one of their seven batsmen who never reached double figures. Only 3 of the Thunder’s 6 bowlers used took a wicket. Usman Khawaja and Alex Hales had an extremely good start to the innings with a partnership of 99 runs, that all but sealed victory for the Thunder.
Friday December 20th
Hurricanes v Sixers
D’Arcy Short was probably the difference between the 2 teams with 51 runs. In reply, Qais Ahmed helped the Hurricanes defend the total of 130 runs that they set the Sixers to win with 4 wickets, while James Faulkner and Simon Milenko chimed in for 2 each.
Heat v Stars
The headlines were probably mostly about Glenn Maxwell as he excelled for the Stars with 83 runs. All 6 of the Heat bowlers took a wicket. Adam Zampa helped the Stars defend the total that they set with 3 wickets, which helped them win by 22 runs.
Saturday December 21st
Thunder v Strikers
The Strikers had 3 batsmen who managed to pass 40 runs; they were, Jake Weatherald, Alex Carey and Jonathan Wells. Daniel Sams took 2 wickets and was probably the best bowler for the Thunder. Unfortunately, the match was abandoned and there was no result.
Scorchers v Renegades
The Scorchers batted extremely well, nearly reaching 200 runs for the loss of 7 wickets; Cameron Bancroft and Mitchell Marsh were the standouts, both passing 50 runs. The game was all but over; Shaun Marsh helped bring some respectability back to the scoreboard for the Renegades.
Sunday December 22nd
Stars v Hurricanes
The open partnership of 81 runs between Nic Maddinson and Marcus Stoinis set the scene for the Stars to claim what could prove to be an important win; it was the Stars 2nd successive win of the tournament. For the Hurricanes Riley Meredith took 3 wickets. The Hurricanes struggled, in reply, limping to 111 runs and losing the game fairly comprehensively. Haris Rauf took 5 wickets.
Sixers v Heat
The highlight of this game was the innings by Captain of the Heat Chris Lynn who hit 11 sixes, nearly reaching 100 runs! The Heat won the game comfortably with Ben Cutting the only 1 of the 7 bowlers used to fail taking a wicket.