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Late Strikers? Title-holders eye finals tilt

They may have left their run too late but after knocking off BBL08's standout side, the reigning champions still believe they can defend their crown

Jake Weatherald has bullishly declared the Adelaide Strikers can go back-to-back in the KFC Big Bash League – they just need to find a way to make the finals.

The entertaining left-hander smacked 82 from 42 balls to help the visitors chase down the league-leading Hobart Hurricanes' total of 7-169 in front of 13,846 people at UTAS Stadium in Launceston on Thursday night.

The Strikers must now win their remaining games in BBL|08 - against cellar dwellers Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers at Adelaide Oval - in dominant fashion. They also need Sydney Thunder to lose one of their remaining games against cross-town rivals the Sixers and the Hurricanes, while the Melbourne Stars would need to lose at least two of their final three matches.


"We just have to go out and take it on," Weatherald told cricket.com.au. "Unfortunately, that's just how it is. We put ourselves in that position but pressure's a great thing and tonight we just knew we had to go out and take them down.

"It was pretty good, we had a clear game plan about how we were going to go about it, and the next two games it'll be the same thing."

Image Id: 970AC0D5C2704BA8B8202C9B3F3C1C34 Image Caption: 'If we get there we are a good chance of winning it' // Getty

When asked to give Strikers' fans hope their title defence dream haven't evaporated, Weatherald was emphatic.

"I just think we are a team that deserves to be there (in the finals)," he said.

"If we get there we are a good chance of winning it. We just have to get there."

Strikers stun Hurricanes in Launceston

Should the Strikers fail in their quest to reach the knockout phase of the tournament, a five-wicket loss to the Melbourne Renegades in their second game of the season would haunt the men in blue the most.

"We should have defended (5-174) at the Adelaide Oval and we missed out there, unfortunately," Weatherald lamented.

"But you look back at those things and they are good learning experiences anyway.

"We played well tonight against the best team in the comp and it shows we are good enough."

Weatherald and his opening partner Alex Carey (54 off 35) spoke pre-match about going hard, early and often.

Carey's horror run-out streak in BBL08

"We also talked about not running each other out, as well!" said Weatherald, with Carey's four BBL|08 run outs top of mind.

"We didn't know how (the wicket) was going to play and we thought it may play a bit tough, but it actually got a bit easier in all fairness.

"We just went out there and played with freedom and thankfully it came off tonight."

While the openers did make a point of specifically addressing their running between the wickets in the wake of Carey's spate of run outs, Weatherald moved to put things into perspective.

Match-winning knock from Weatherald

"You can't be too serious about everything, otherwise everything starts to get daunting," he said.

"If you're thinking about your run outs and getting out (in other ways) as well it's pretty tough.

"We joked about it, but we also took it seriously and called loudly.

"When the game went silent a couple of times we reminded each other to be nice and loud out there and it worked really well. We ran well between the wickets, which was great."

Wade whacks 88 in Launceston

Hurricanes skipper Matthew Wade was disappointed his team couldn't secure a home semi-final.

"We didn't bowl at our best tonight," he said. "I thought we had a total that we should have defended on that ground. (The Strikers openers) threw caution to the wind ... we had our opportunities to take a wicket or two in the powerplay and we didn't take them and it got away from us pretty quickly."

Wade, whose red-hot form continued with 88 from 54 balls, also admitted his inability to bat through the innings proved costly for the home side.

"I was just talking to Benny McDermott (18 off 14) and I thought one of me and him needed to stay in ... we needed a set batter in our last three overs and we didn't have that."