Big Bash: Adelaide Strikers survive David Miller onslaught as Hobart Hurricanes miss finals boat
Not even a whirlwind knock by South African import David Miller could arrest the Hobart Hurricanes’ form slump, this time coming up short against the Adelaide Strikes to end their finals ambitions.
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The Hurricanes have been put out of their Big Bash misery despite under siege import David Miller finally flashing his destructive best.
The South African entered the clash in Launceston against the Adelaide Strikers having scored just 91 runs all tournament, and nearly matched that in his rapid fire unbeaten 48-ball 90.
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However it was not enough for Hobart to chase down its target of 187, falling 10 runs short as the Strikers delivered the knockout blow to any remote finals hopes the hosts had.
Miller clubbed eight boundaries and five sixes to keep the Hurricanes in the chase despite the asking rate ballooning above 12 by the 10th over, but veteran Peter Siddle kept his cool in the final over when Hobart needed 21 runs to win.
On the back of the blazing bat of captain Travis Head (79 off 40 balls, five boundaries and six sixes), the Strikers piled on a UTAS Stadium record 5-186 to consign the Hurricanes to a fifth consecutive match without a win.
However it could have been a far different story had Miller not dropped a straight forward chance at deep mid wicket when Head was on 21.
The Australian middle order star cashed in on his life, going on a rampage to blast his next 58 runs from just 25 balls to make the Hurricanes pay dearly.
Head sized up Hobart’s spinners, slog sweeping both Qais Ahmad and Clive Rose for multiple sixes while also launching Nathan Ellis over the RACT stand in another over.
His whirlwind knock finally ended when he was caught by Caleb Jewell — who also dropped a catch early — trying to put Rose over the fence for a third time in the 13th over, ending a 97-run partnership with Tasmanian-born Jon Wells.
Wells (45 not out) and Matt Short (33 from 20) then finished off the work of their skipper with a 54-run stand before the bowlers went to work, with Michael Neser claiming the big scalp of Matthew Wade in the first over of the run chase.
It was a deflating blow for the Hurricanes, who needed their leader to fire to have any hope of mowing down the target.
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The situation worsened as the pressure of a sluggish start got to Jewell, who skied Wes Agar to mid-off in the fifth over at 2-21, and when Jake Doran (28, 31 balls) perished in the 10th over to a one-handed screamer from Head at cover the required rate had already crept above 12.
Miller finally found his groove to notch his first half century in the competition from 33 balls, and alongside Ben McDermott (31 off 17 balls) kept Hobart in the chase despite needing more than 14 runs an over.
However when McDermott drilled a catch to long on and George Bailey fell cheaply there was too much left on the shoulders of the South African despite his best efforts.
Originally published as Big Bash: Adelaide Strikers survive David Miller onslaught as Hobart Hurricanes miss finals boat