Shane Watson hammered eight boundaries and six sixes during his knock of 100
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Sydney Thunder skipper Shane Watson smashed a breathtaking hundred against the Brisbane Heat, but it went in vain as a floodlight failure at the Gabba led to the match being abandoned.
As a result of the of the floodlight problem, both teams will get a point.
Opting to bat first, the Thunder got off to a great start as Watson and Anton Devcich amassed a 58-run partnership before Devcich was dismissed by Ben Cutting for 26.
Watson and Callum Ferguson kept the runs flowing with a 64-run stand, during which Watson raced past his fifty, before Ferguson was removed by Brendan Doggett for 18.
Watson and Daniel Sams added 41 runs to the score before Watson was caught by Max Bryant at long-off off the bowling of Mujeeb Ur Rahman for 100, which came off 62 balls and included eight boundaries and six sixes.
No amount of controversy can take away from Shane Watson's brilliant century.
100 from 61 deliveries, which some simply superb cricket shots 😍 #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/S4dLagOWKg
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 17, 2019
Sams ended up falling for 18, but thanks to Watson’s sensational knock, the Thunder finished on 186/4.
Cutting was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, while Doggett and Mujeeb chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 187 to win, the Heat were dealt a huge blow on the third ball of their innings as opener Brendon McCullum was caught by Ferguson at cover off the bowling of Chris Jordan for a duck.
Captain Chris Lynn was the next to go as he was caught by Jordan at mid-off off the bowling of Gurinder Sandhu for four runs.
Just two balls after Lynn was dismissed, the floodlight failure occurred and led to play being suspended.
Since the power problem was solely restricted to the Gabba, a lengthy wait ensued.
However, with the problem unable to be fixed in the allotted amount of time, the umpires had no choice but to call the match off.
Jordan and Sandhu claimed one wicket each as the Thunder were left reeling at 10/2 after three overs.