Travis Head reigns
Travis had smashes sixers–Getty
An extraordinary innings by young Travis Head retrieved what seemed like a hopeless situation for the Adelaide Strikers in their BBL match against the Sydney Sixers – an event I was privileged to see. At the end of the 17th over the Strikers were 126 for 5 and needed 51 runs from 18 balls –a strike rate of 17.00!
Well, well. They reached the target in 15 balls! See the details below. It was fundamentally a Head show – since Adil Rashid scored 2 runs from the one ball he faced. …. Michael Roberts
Dizzy Gillespie, Mahela and Rashid in melancholy gloom at the halfway point in the Strikers’ innings! — Pics by Roberts
COMMENTARY -Overs 16-20
16.1
Dwarshuis to Head, 1 run, yorker on middle, squeezed wide of cover
16.2
Dwarshuis to Ross, no run, back of length on middle, he can’t turn that wide of midwicket, dot ball and that means more pressure on the Strikers
16.3
Dwarshuis to Ross, OUT, goes for a wild swing, only manages to slice it down towards third man, the point fielder threw his hat into the race by going for it, but backed off finally., and Ayre held his own to take it quite comfortably
AI Ross c sub (RR Ayre) b Dwarshuis 1 (4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
16.4
Dwarshuis to Head, no run, right into the blockhole from wide of the crease, jams his bat down in time to keep that away
16.5
Dwarshuis to Head, 1 run, makes room and squeezes it to deep cover
16.6
Dwarshuis to Rashid, 2 runs, eased neatly down towards third man, but the slower delivery meant there wasn’t enough pace on the deflection for it to go to the boundary
End of over 17 (4 runs) Adelaide Strikers 126/5 (51 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.41, RRR: 17.00)
- AU Rashid 2 (1b)
- TM Head 45 (38b 2×4 2×6)
- BJ Dwarshuis 4-0-25-3
- J Botha 4-0-36-0
17.1
Abbott to Head, FOUR, gets down on one knee and slogs that across the line, no one at long-on and the ball rolls into the long boundary there. Good start to the over
17.2
Abbott to Head, SIX, swung across the line, makes clean connection again and the ball sails over the deep midwicket fence. It was full, right in the slot for the swing and he made proper contact
17.3
Abbott to Head, FOUR, too full on off, and he slices that one into the gap between point and third man. They’re still in this, are Adelaide
17.4
Abbott to Head, SIX, that’s another muscular hit that has gone 20 rows back. Full toss angling away, he walks across, gets down on one knee and swings towards deep midwicket, absolutely smoked that. Mayhem here
17.5
Abbott to Head, SIX, he’s single-handedly winning this. Short ball, he waited inside the crease and pulled him in front of square over deep square leg.
17.6
Abbott to Head, 1 run
End of over 18 (27 runs) Adelaide Strikers 153/5 (24 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.50, RRR: 12.00)
- TM Head 72 (44b 4×4 5×6)
- AU Rashid 2 (1b)
- SA Abbott 3-0-39-1
- BJ Dwarshuis 4-0-25-3
18.1
Bollinger to Head, no run, low full toss outside off, squeezed to third man, confusion between both batsmen, who met mid-pitch, a direct hit at the bowler’s end and Rashid would have been gone
18.2
Bollinger to Head, 2 runs, low full toss on middle, he gets it down towards long-on, long boundary means even a rocket throw can’t prevent the second
18.3
Bollinger to Head, 2 runs, swung across the line towards deep midwicket
18.4
Bollinger to Head, SIX, monstrous hit! He hasn’t learnt here. Bowls it full, half-volley, Head backs away and makes the most difficult stroke look ridiculously easy. Lofted nice and clean over extra cover, tremendous bat speed on that as ball met bat
18.5
Bollinger to Head, no run, hit hard but straight to cover
18.6
Bollinger to Head, 1 run, high full toss, the deep cover fielder misfields but Head decided he wasn’t going to run back for the second come hell or high water. He retains the strike.
What a cracking end to 2015. A last-over finish. That too in front of a sell out. 45,000 people in on New Year’s eve. What an atmosphere. Can Travis Head take the Adelaide Strikers home?
End of over 19 (11 runs) Adelaide Strikers 164/5 (13 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.63, RRR: 13.00)
- TM Head 83 (50b 4×4 6×6)
- AU Rashid 2 (1b)
- DE Bollinger 4-0-31-0
- SA Abbott 3-0-39-1
19.1
Abbott to Head, SIX, as easy as it can get. Too full on leg stump, he walks across the stump and flicks the half volley over deep midwicket. Short boundary there and only those in the stands could have caught that
19.2
Abbott to Head, SIX, are you kidding me? This one was a short ball, much slower as well and it made it easier for Head to generate enough power as he waited on the slower ball and then swung that away, got it a little high on the bat but it was enough to take it over deep midwicket. Sean Abbott is crest fallen
19.3
Abbott to Head, SIX, a century to savour . Champagne moment on New Year’s eve! It was short again, the ball got big on him and he slapped it behind square on the leg side. The ball got big on him but he ensured the swing was powerful enough to take it all the way. This is the first century by an Adelaide Strikers batsman in BBL history
Time to rest my fingers a bit. Fear I’ll drop my drink tonight, for such has been the onslaught by Travis Head. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Looking forward to more in 2016. Until then, cheers!
Crowd scene during the Big Bash League match between the Adelaide Strikers and the Sydney Sixers at Adelaide Oval on December 31, 2015 in Adelaide, Australia.
A drop-in from Hong Kong enjoying the atmosphere at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Strikers needed 51 off the last 18 balls. They scored 56 in 15. All the runs were scored by Travis Head.
Justin: “You got to feel for Abbott there, but the Sixers must be ruing the lack of a sixth bowling option. What a way to end the cricketing year I have to say”
Travis Head: I thought we were gone at one stage, but credit to Hodgy for bringing it back. I thought we can get close to give entertainment to the fans who came down tonight, but the short boundaries helped. Sean Abbott is a quality bowler, on another day I would have hit a few to the fielders, but tonight I got the opportunity and that got me going. I’ve tried to improve, haven’t been consistent throughout the year, but it’s good to step up and get a win.
At one stage, it looked like Adelaide where nowhere in this. But a succession of short deliveries that went horribly wrong meant they were in with a hunt from nowhere. Travis Head hit three successive sixes to bring up a century and an improbable win. At no stage did Travis Head look out of place. Just to tell you the magnitude of his achievement, picture this: Travis Head hit seven sixes off his last 14 deliveries