Twitter Reactions: Sydney Thunder's bowlers choke the Strikers to get one step closer to BBL final

Adelaide Strikers locked horns with Sydney Thunder in the knockout game of BBL 2019-20. The fans got to watch an enthralling encounter at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide. In the crucial contest, the visitors managed to win the game by a margin of eight runs. Alex Hales turned out to be the hero of the match as he set the stage on fire with his brilliant batting display. Now, they will come face to face against the Melbourne Stars in Challenger game of the tournament.

The hosts won the toss and elected to field and their bowlers gave a standout performance with the ball from the beginning of the game. The right-handed fast bowler Michael Neser dismissed the Thunder’s in-form opener, Usman Khawaja, in the fourth over of the innings. Callum Ferguson was dismissed by Peter Siddle after scoring just 1 run.

Meanwhile, Alex Hales looked in full flow with the bat from the other end. He smacked Strikers’ bowlers all across the park with his merciless hitting. He muscled 59 runs off 35 balls studded with six boundaries and four sixes. Chris Morris also scored 21 valuable runs at a brilliant strike rate of 150. In the end, Thunder successfully posted a competitive score of 151 runs for a loss of seven wickets in stipulated 20 overs courtesy of Hales’ swift knock. Peter Siddle emerged as the best bowler for Strikers, who scalped two wickets for 21 runs.

Sydney Thunder gives a knockout punch to Adelaide Strikers

Coming onto the chase, Strikers got off to a worse possible start as they lost their in-form opener Philip Salt in the first over of the innings. The right-handed opener attempted to go big for a six off Daniel Sams but he didn’t get his timing due to which he was caught by Hales.

Jake Weatherald got off to a good start with the bat as he muscled 18 runs off 14 balls. However, he failed to convert it into a big knock in the crucial game. Travis Head (32 runs), Alex Carey (28 runs) and Jonathan Wells (32 runs) contributed well with their bat. But, it was not enough to help their side in winning the knockout game against Thunder.

The Strikers’ rather gave away a winning position. They needed 37 off just 31 balls at one stage after which the Thunder came back stunningly to put a break on their run-scoring. Wickets fell in heap after pressure increased with every dot ball which led to them getting only to 143 runs in 20 overs.

Daniel Sams turned out to be the best bowler for his side, who registered brilliant bowling figures of 3/26 in his four-over spell. Alex Hales was awarded Man of the Match for his blistering knock of 59 runs.

Here is how Twitter reacted: