21 Dec 2015 | Cricket
This morning saw Adil Rashid and David Willey on opposite teams when their BBL franchises met in the Australian T20 tournament. The England ODI pair were playing for the Perth Scorchers (Willey) and Adelaide Strikers (Rashid) in a game that ended with the Strikers winning by four wickets in relatively comfortable style.
The Perth Scorchers got off to a flying start with Gloucestershire's Klinger and Australian international Shaun Marsh playing the sort of shots that have made them so successful in this format of the game.
Klinger (19) was out attacking the part-time spin of Travis Head but it was the introduction and bowling of Adil Rashid that really put the Strikers in a great position. The leg spinner had Michael Carberry looking very out of sorts and the England spinner soon dismissed the Scorchers and Hampshire batsman with a perfectly bowled wrong'un - the ball of the tournament so far. Carberry's departure paved the way for the big hitting Mitchell Marsh but the all-rounder was soon back in the sheds after also being clean bowled by the excellent Rashid.
This brought David Willey to the crease and the England international quickly targeted the short straight boundary. This proved to be his downfall when he was caught on the rope before really showing the Perth crowd what he is capable of. Some big hitting from Adam Voges (45) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (18) formed a late recovery for the defending champions who finished their innings on a respectable but slightly disappointing 151-6.
The Strikers chase got off to the perfect start with Tim Ludeman hitting three 4s from the first over of the game. Coulter-Nile had the other opener Simmons caught tenth ball of the innings but it was David Willey who got the big breakthrough when he had the dangerous Ludeman caught behind. Mahela Jayawardene was lucky not to be given out early when replays showed that Willey's delivery pitched in line and was cannoning into leg, and the Sri Lankan capitalised as he went on to hit a crucial 42 before Willey had him caught in the sixteenth over with the score at 131-5.
The Adelaide Strikers always looked comfortable with the run rate on what was a very good batting wicket and their young Australian batsman Alex Ross (38) swept his team to within a couple of runs from victory before holing out going for another six. He was replaced by Rashid who had no trouble in knocking off the two runs needed from the seven balls remaining.
Rashid picked up Man of the Match for his impressive figures of 2-21 from his four overs and after having similar success against the Melbourne Stars (2-27) the spinner is looking like he could play a big part in this year's BBL, especially as batsmen seem to be really struggling to pick his variations. His future Yorkshire teammate Willey also bowled well with the left-armer finishing with tidy figures of 2-24, a great sign for England fans.
Willey's ability with both the bat and ball coupled with his energy and enthusiasm in the field is sure to make him a Perth Scorchers fan favourite and if Rashid can continue his current form for the Strikers he can expect similar admiration from the Adelaide fans too.