AUSTRALIA has been introduced to the breakout star of the BBL, with Afghani import Rashid Khan lighting up Adelaide Oval on Friday night with a brilliant display.
Australia has a fascination with crafty leggies, and at the moment there’s no better prospect on the planet than the wily 19-year-old with the unpickable wrong’un.
Want to know how tough it is to pick? Maybe ask Ben Rohrer, the 36-year-old Sydney Thunder veteran who had more than a touch of the Mike Gattings about his reaction when he was truly bamboozled to be bowled for a duck.
Bowling around the wicket to the left-hander, Rashid pitched a delivery on leg stump, watched as it fizzed off the pitch, beat Rohrer’s bat and took the top of off-stump.
It was a delightful piece of genius and earned him his second wicket for the over, and was the moment that sparked a shocking Thunder collapse - ultimately leading to a huge 53-run victory as the visitors were meekly rolled for 110 in pursuit of the Strikers’ target of 164.
Khan takes two on debutKhan takes two on debut1:13
The youngster then took off in celebration, raising his arms as fans have been accustomed to seeing in the Caribbean and Indian Premier Leagues — where he’s dominated this year.
Rashid’s performance, finishing with 2-22 from four overs, earned him man-of-the-match honours — but they equally could’ve gone to two of his bowling teammates, Ben Laughlin (4-26) and Peter Siddle (2-6 from three overs).
While Rashid opened the floodgates, sparking a stunning collapse of 8-41, it was Laughlin who broke the back of the Thunder with an over in which he was on a hat-trick and took three wickets in four balls for one run.
Laughlin tears apart ThunderLaughlin tears apart Thunder1:33
Arjun Nair dug out the hat-trick ball, and finished unbeaten on 23 in one of the hardy displays from a meek Thunder batting line-up — with opener Kurtis Patterson the clear star, scoring 48 from 27.
And don’t sell short the performance of former Test star Siddle, who moved to the Strikers this year from the Melbourne Renegades.
On Friday’s showing, it looks like an astute purchase by the Strikers and coach Jason Gillespie, and Siddle has plenty of life left in his legs.
The 33-year-old has spent far more time than he’d care to remember on the sidelines in recent years, but looked fit and motivated as he zeroed in on the Thunder’s batting line-up.
Two wickets in three overs is good — but an economy rate of 2 is mind-blowing in T20 cricket.
Earlier, Alex Carey (44) and Travis Head (36) put on 79 runs to steer the home side to its total of 163 — which didn’t look like a par score, until the Thunder capitulated under the Adelaide lights.
Fan hit in the head by sixFan hit in the head by six0:39
BIG MOMENTS
— There were scary scenes when a young fan was struck by a huge Travis Head six in the Strikers’ innings. It was reminiscent of the incident at North Sydney Oval when Ellyse Perry hit a powerful six which struck a young fan in the face. Fortunately the young fan — six-year-old Charlie — was ok after the incident and play was not interrupted for too long.
— Alex Carey batted superbly in a timely reminder that he is not a one-trick pony. The silky gloveman was on the cusp of a Test call-up at the start of the summer with selectors enamoured with his work behind the stumps. But there were concerns around his batting, and ultimately Tim Paine was handed the job — and has since performed brilliantly with both bat and ball. But Paine is reportedly not in camp with the Australian team ahead of the Boxing Day Test as he deals with some family problems — which could open the door for Carey. It’s unlikely — Paine is believed to be more likely than not to play Boxing Day — but it’s still a good time for Carey to be among the runs.
Kiwi gets heated at WellsKiwi gets heated at Wells1:04
— Mitchell McClenaghan is an angry, angry man. The feisty Kiwi is fast becoming a cult favourite at the Sixers, and he’s a very handy cricketer. But you don’t want to get on his bad side — like Jono Wells managed to during the Strikers’ innings. Wells happened to get in the way when the Kiwi was charging towards a caught-and-bowled off Jake Lehmann, which he ultimately grassed despite making good ground after getting around Wells. But that was when the fireworks started. McClenaghan unleashed a furious spray at the batsman — and most of the words can’t be printed on a kid-friendly site like foxsports.com.au. But he was certainly unimpressed. And we wouldn’t want to cross the quick, who also came up with the worst ball of the match with this horrendous wide. Sorry Mitch, don’t come after me.
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