Hopes of a Sydney final fade as Thunder fall to Strikers

Adelaide’s win means they leapfrog the Thunder into third spot and remain on course for a finals berth.

A spectacular bowling spell from Adam Milne laid the foundations for what should have been a successful afternoon for the Thunder.

Milne’s four overs included 20 dot balls, just six runs, and the wicket of Philip Salt in one of the most economical four-over spells seen in the BBL. The effort was also helped along by Brendan Doggett, who finished with 2-21 from his four overs.

At one point in the innings, the Thunders’ bowling was so good Strikers star Jake Weatherald was run out twice on the same ball.

Weatherald was at the non-striker’s end before teammate Salt faced a ball from Chris Green which was hit straight down the pitch. Green managed to get a finger on the ball before it hit the stumps with Weatherald failing to ground his bat.

After the hit, the ball deflected into the off side with keeper Sam Billings diving onto the stumps before Weatherald successfully made his ground, running him out on a second occasion.

Despite finishing with a disappointing 6-159, the Strikers quickly found a reply to the Thunder’s dominance.

Veteran Peter Siddle kicked off the Sydney side’s innings by taking the wicket of Alex Hales, sending him back to the sheds for just six runs.

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From there five wickets were quick to fall.

Captain Callum Ferguson was dismissed for 22 before Usman Khawaja went for 36 in back-to-back wickets.

In their chase for the Bash Boost, which awards a bonus point for whoever wins in the race to 10 overs, the Thunder lost their stability with batsman continuing to fall.

Billings was dismissed for six before Ollie Davies produced yet another underwhelming performance compared to his opening games, managing just four runs.

The bad luck continued with Chris Green scoring just four runs before Alex Ross was dismissed after 18 in the effort to get his side back into the game.

Despite the best efforts of Ben Cutting and Nathan McAndrew, they were not able to get the job done, handing the Strikers four points to overtake the Thunder on the ladder.