Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Sydney Thunder opener Jos Buttler hammered an entertaining 67 to lead his side to a comfortable 57-run win over the Hobart Hurricanes.
Being put in to bat first, the Thunder lost opening batsman Kurtis Patterson in the third over as he was caught by Hurricanes captain George Bailey at extra cover off the bowling of Jofra Archer for 15.
Yep… that is classic catch! LIVE: https://t.co/DpYBoV3ZhS #BBL07 pic.twitter.com/hsoSNdD3zM
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 30, 2017
Buttler and Thunder skipper Shane Watson made up for the loss of Patterson with a 95-run partnership, during which Buttler cruised past his fifty.
Jos Buttler really got a hold of this one! LIVE: https://t.co/DpYBoV3ZhS #BBL07 pic.twitter.com/N8Jig2Qotl
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 30, 2017
However, the England wicketkeeper-batsman ended up being clean bowled by Clive Rose for 67, which came off 41 balls and included five boundaries and four sixes.
Watson went on to make 41 off 35 deliveries, which included four boundaries and a six, before he was run out by Cameron Boyce.
Oh no, Watto won't want to see this again… #BBL07 pic.twitter.com/zvwz5pv0WV
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 30, 2017
Ben Rohrer fell shortly after, but Callum Ferguson and Ryan Gibson made 24 not out and 14 respectively to help the Thunder finish on 166/5 off their 20 overs.
Rose was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Archer chipped in with one.
Chasing 167 to win, the Hurricanes made a brisk start to their innings before being pegged back with the dismissals of D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott.
Bailey only managed to score three runs before he was removed by Fawad Ahmed, while wicketkeeper Matthew Wade was caught and bowled by Arjun Nair for two runs.
The Hurricanes continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and even though Archer smashed an unbeaten 25, it was not enough to save his side as they ended up being bowled out for 109.
Nair, Fawad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Chris Green and Gurinder Sandhu claimed two wickets each.
Buttler was named Man of the Match.