The Perth Scorchers have cruised to another massive seven-wicket victory in front of home fans as the Hobart Hurricanes simply had “no answers” for Aaron Hardie and Josh Inglis.
The duo put on their second century stand for the series as Perth never got out of “first gear” to jump back to the top of the BBL table with 15 balls to spare.
Hardie (90* off 62) and Inglis (53 off 35) put on a clinic on Wednesday night after several Hurricanes stars threw their wickets away in several “coach killer” moments.
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MATCH CENTRE: Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes, stats, follow live, match
“They’ve weathered everything the Hurricanes have thrown at them,” Fox Cricket’s Glenn Maxwell said.
“They controlled the run chase the whole way through it.”
In what was Matt Wade’s first game since his heated confrontation with Sydney Thunder rivals, his stay at the crease lasted just three balls after he won the toss and elected to bat first at Perth Stadium.
And it only got worse for the Hurricanes who managed to fight their way to 9-146.
While Riley Meredith snared Scorchers opener Stephen Eskinazi for a duck second ball of the innings, and Paddy Dooley struck early too, it wasn’t enough as the Scorchers took complete control.
Dooley managed to talk his “uninterested” skipper in Wade into reviewing a potential LBW and it paid off as Cameron Bancroft was forced to go for just 1.
“That’s unbelievable,” Fox Cricket’s Mike Hussey said.
“Matty Wade was off talking to the next bowler. And Paddy Dooley talked him into it.
“He reviewed with one second on the clock. He knew Paddy he’s got his man.”
But Dooley (1-20) ended up on ice before the match was through after pulling up lame during his second over.
He immediately grabbed at the left side of his groin and was attended to by Hurricanes medical staff on the boundary.
He managed to complete his spell before heading straight from the field.
Earlier with his side already in early trouble after Caleb Jewell (8) top-edged Jason Behrendorff in the third over, Wade (0) couldn’t hang around in the power play.
He tried to ramp Perth’s ‘Wild Thing’ Lance Morris, but didn’t read the slower knuckleball as Josh Inglis took a ripping catch behind the stumps.
“Matthew Wade didn’t have the pace to work with to flick it over the keeper,” Hussey lamented.
Commentator Adam Gilchrist labelled Wade’s wicket a “crucial blow” as the Hobart skipper fell for just his fourth duck in 86 BBL starts.
“The Scorchers as they generally do, pick up wickets in the power play,” Fox Cricket’s Mike Hussey said.
“This is the lowest tally of runs (Hobart) have scored in the competition this year.”
It only got worse for the visitors in the sixth over as Andrew Tye snared Ben McDermott on the boundary for 7 off 12.
Nick Hobson got fingernails to a tough one-handed chance in the deep off Zac Crawley, as his pool shot got high on the bat.
But luckily for the Hurricanes, Crawley got just enough on it to keep it out of Hobson’s full stretch dive and record just the fifth boundary of Hobart’s innings.
But Crawley’s (19 off 19) luck ran out a short time later when he was caught on the boundary by Matt Kelly.
And when Tim David (20 off 13) fell the very next ball, Hobart’s “coach killer” ensured the team needed to rebuild fast.
“It goes from bad to worse for the Hurricanes,” Gilchrist said.
“The Scorchers can’t do anything wrong at the moment,” Fox Cricket’s Glenn Maxwell added.
“Everything they touch turns to gold.”
Hussey said Hobart were now in deep trouble at 5-65 in the 10th over.
“That really hurts the Hobart Hurricanes losing Crawley the ball before and now the dangerous Tim David. He looked good, but they’re really in the mine now,” he said.
“It’s an instinctive shot.
“He would have felt horrible as soon as he’s hit that. He picked out the man in the deep.”
Despite wickets falling regularly, Tom Andrews then found himself come under fire from Australian greats Gilchrist and Hussey for his “lazy” efforts between wickets.
Andrews – in just his third BBL game this summer and just his seventh match after stints with Adelaide and the Renegades – casually jogged through a single without even bothering to slide his bat as Ashton Agar’s shy at the stumps went just wide.
“He didn’t even slide his bat! You talk about coach killers!” Hussey said.
“I can’t believe that.”
Gilchrist was left similarly speechless by Andrews’ “lazy running”.
“I don’t even think he thought the ball was coming to his end!” he said.
“He hasn’t even looked out there to have a look.
“Kids out there, don’t try this at home … The coach will not be happy.”
Andrews made up for his error with back to back boundaries off Matt Kelly to help lift the Hurricanes past the 130 mark.
Together with Nathan Ellis, the duo put on 44 from 27 deliveries – the biggest partnership of Hobart’s innings – before Andrews was run-out trying to get back on strike for the final four balls of the innings.
The Hurricanes finished with 9-146 after Ellis (24 off 18) was run-out on the final ball.
The match was the first for Wade since the Hobart skipper drew the attention of match officials for his “friendly” shove with Australian teammate David Warner.
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It’s been reported Wade had sledged Warner’s Thunder teammate Chris Green about his early issues with an illegal bowling action.
And after viewing several angles of the “shove”, match officials determined there was no malice involved from Warner to Wade with both avoiding sanction.
Wednesday night’s clash starts at 7.40pm AEDT from Perth Stadium.
SQUADS
Scorchers: Cameron Bancroft, Stephen Eskinazi, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wk), Ashton Turner (c), Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Matthew Kelly, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris
Hurricanes: Ben McDermott, Caleb Jewell, Zak Crawley, Matthew Wade (c) (wk), Tim David, D’Arcy Short, Faheem Ashraf, Tom Andrews, Nathan Ellis, Paddy Dooley, Riley Meredith
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