Jake Weatherald blows BBL away in ‘insane’ scenes after late call up

Adelaide Strikers fans have gone through a rollercoaster of emotions after one of the all-time BBL knocks that almost never was.

Jake Weatherald has unleashed a stunning onslaught to rip the heart out of the Hobart Hurricanes with a brutal 32-ball 80 to take the Adelaide Strikers to an eight wicket win with 25 balls remaining.

While even Weatherald’s innings seemed pedestrian to the Perth Scorchers’ Laurie Evans who hit 85 off 28 ball just last week, the South Australian almost single-handedly flipped the BBL finals race on its head.

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The result ends the Hurricanes season, and makes it a two-horse race between the Strikers and Stars.

But while English T20 gun for hire Evans had been a mainstay of the Scorchers line up, Weatherald had been out of favour, playing just his fourth game this season.

He said he only learned he would get a run when it was confirmed that Chris Lynn — the competition’s second highest run scorer behind teammate Matt Short — had suffered a likely season-ending hamstring injury.

Speaking on Fox Cricket after the match, Weatherald said he was resigned to spending the rest of the season on the sidelines.

“I got a call and 12 o’clock at night saying you’re playing, I sort of said I’ve got nothing to lose so I may as well just go out and swing hard,” he said.

What an innings. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images

Weatherald said the innings may have been “the best I’ve batted ever” despite having scoring a century in the BBL|07 Final.

“It was pretty cool to be fair,” Weatherald said. “It was a bit of a shock to be playing in general, all the batters have been going really well this year so I’ve sort of just been watching in awe of what the other batters have been doing, so to be able to contribute, it was great.

“It’s been a couple of years brewing, I’ve been working so hard on my T20 cricket. I felt even though I hadn’t taken my opportunity, it was good to actually go out there on a nice wicket and the opportunity to get in and get myself going and once that happened, I was able to play freely.”

A Striker since the 2016/17 season, Weatherald has played 84 matches in the competition, but has fallen out of favour in 2023/24 after having scored 11 runs in three matches in late 2023.

Weatherald unleashed nine fours and five sixes in his knock, having brought up his fifty in just 24 balls.

Chasing Hobart’s 6/167, the Strikers romped to victory on Weatherald’s performance.

“Absolutely remarkable innings,” Harsha Bhogle said on Fox Cricket.

“He came in for Lynn and just grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.”

Jake Weatherald and Adam Hose celebrate the win. Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images

Fans were equally blown away.

FIVEaa’s Sam Tugwell tweeted: “That’s’ some insane striking tonight from Jake Weatherald for @StrikersBBL 80* off 32.

“His journey this last couple years has compounded into a really tough last 3-4 months. To see him release the shackles tonight has been a fun reminder of what he’s capable of with a cricket bat in hand.”

Former Aussie quick Damien Fleming posted: “Well that was simply amazing hitting from Jake Weatherald”.

Nine News Adelaide’s Dylan Swith added: “Form is temporary, class is permanent … take a bow Jake Weatherald … HE. IS. BACK.”

I’ll go as close to saying that Jake Weatherald’s T20 knock tonight was almost as good as Maxwell’s 201 against Afghanistan in the 50 over World Cup. There’ll be arguments for and against, but it was insane…insane…INNNNNNNSANE!!! #BBL13@StrikersBBL@FoxCricket

— LewisPounentis (@LewisPounentis) January 11, 2024

Some absolutely crazy hitting, 32 ball 80 from Jake Weatherald! https://t.co/aQQvEGVqsZpic.twitter.com/90pa6UXt5A

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) January 11, 2024

A disappointed Lynn said he was still a chance of playing another game this season before he departs for the International League T20 in Dubai, where he will play of the Gulf Giants.

Weatherald said that if Lynn came back in “I’ll probably be watching from the pine again”.

The Strikers are now in the box seat to seal a spot in the playoffs with one match remaining.

While the Melbourne Stars still have their fate in their own hands with two wins able to seal their place, the Strikes huge strides in their run rate, moving to 0.145 for the season, ahead of the Stars’ -1.122, meaning any rain could also have a big effect.

The sweet hitting from Weatherald saw the Strikers blast 53 runs from the final 17 balls to bring up the win with a back-to-back sixes.

Originally published as Jake Weatherald blows BBL away in ‘insane’ scenes after late call up