The Australian home season has kick-started right at the onset of 2020’s beginning. On one hand, their national team is hosting their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in an anticipated test-series. Meanwhile, the glamour and charisma of the Big Bash League is keeping every T20 fan’s afternoon’s entertained. It has only been 5 days into the tournament and fans have already got the taste for some amazing action. Right from Chris Jordan’s ‘anti-gravitational’ catch to Qais Ahmed’s stunning somersault, the league has got off to a entertainment-packed start. And just in case Jordan couldn’t make enough news with his catch of the match, pacer Jhye Richardson ensured the game between the Scorchers and the Renegades left a lasting impression.
That’s right, there was more to yesterday’s match at Perth than that single moment of sensation. To bring some context, Jhye hasn’t really had some of the luck upcoming cricketers of his caliber deserve. The promising quick from West Australia started off 2019 on a great note, where he had a good home series against India and later, also his made debut in the tests against Sri Lanka. He looked well-set to make it into the World Cup squad. To his credit, he made into the first 15-man team list, but a series of injuries he picked up ruled him out of the tournament. Ever since, he hasn’t featured for Australia in any format. So he’s clearly eager to perform well in the Big Bash to make a case for his selection.
Jhye’s Freakish Delivery
Unfortunately, it hasn’t really been the best of the starts for the lanky-Perth Scorchers’ pacer. The Sydney-Sixers piled on 37-runs off his 3 overs without losing any wicket. Jhye was looking to get-off to a solid start against the Renegades’ but Aaron Finch and Sam Harper collected 10-runs off his first over. Eager to come-back, he started with a single and then a wide. But the delivery that he re-bowled was quite an iconic one. Jhye missed the 22-yard pitch and bowled a length-ball well-off the 22-yard pitch! The ball landed way outside on the off-side. Harper had pre-determined to scoop the ball towards leg side and had given himself some room for that. But the freakish trajectory of the delivery forced him to change his shot selection and he could only manage a cut towards point. Ashton Turner collected the ball in time and prevented any scoring.
Here’s a video of the freakish delivery that left even the commentators in splits:
Doesn't even matter if it lands on the cut stuff. Sam Harper just wants to get bat on ball!
A @KFCAustralia Bucket Moment | #BBL09 pic.twitter.com/RpCd2eB5Fr
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 21, 2019
Unfortunately, the day turned out to be none better for Jhye as he finished with figures of 4-0-41-0. He had some respite, though as his team ultimately managed to win the game, thanks to fifties from captain Mitch Marsh and Cameron Bancroft. The Renegades were never really out of the game thanks to Shaun Marsh and Beau Webster’s half-centuries. But they couldn’t find the right support and ultimately fell 11-runs short of the target of 197. Mitch Marsh was the player of the match for his blistering unbeaten knock of 56 runs from 22 balls.
