06:36

Adelaide came away with the victory, and thoroughly deserved it after commanding the match from start to finish.

At times it felt like modern T20 v something a little more dated. All the hype surrounded The Bash Brothers, who - we were told - would get Brisbane off to the rollicking, entertaining start we craved. This is a very basic conception of cricket in this format that consciously overhypes hitting long and constantly undervalues less marketable elements like tactical nuance, placement, accurate bowling, and so on.

Adelaide have each of those latter ingredients in spades, and after a helter-skelter opening filled with Chris Lynn strikes, eventually the Strikers’ class showed. They dominated the middle period through the exceptional spin of Rashid Khan, ably supported by Matt Short and Ben Laughlin. At times the Heat looked bereft for ideas about how to play the Afghani maestro. An entertaining, mercurial late stand from Jimmy Peirson and Mujeeb Ur Rahman added respectability to the Heat’s efforts, after slumping to 9/101.

In the middle of the onslaught, there was a remarkable moment when James Pattinson was adjudged run out by the third umpire when he’d clearly reached his ground. It was a withdrawn appeal from Adelaide, apparently Ben Laughlin’s idea, that reinstated Pattinson. Very strange.



Alex Carey then went about taking Adelaide to the brink of victory with the bat, making 70 from 47 balls in an innings of great range. Aside from some impressive bowling from Mitchell Swepson, The Heat couldn’t apply the requisite pressure to bring themselves back into the match.

It’s a long season, but these two sides were eons apart. One was a side built for highlights, the other looked a well balanced unit designed for the vagaries of T20 cricket in 2018. That Jason Gillespie and Michael Di Venuto form the coaching axis of the Strikers makes the above stand to reason.

Thanks for joining me here for night one of BBL08. Catch you next time.