AI Simulation, CD vs HH | Nabi provides finishing touches to Hurricanes victory

‌Pitch & Weather

The Surface in Guyana was on the drier side. However, unlike the earlier games, the pitch did not seem to have many demons and gradually got better for the batters as the game progressed.

Though the weather was cloudy, there was no sign of rain at the venue, and a full game of cricket was played on Wednesday.

Toss & Conditions

Hobart Hurricanes won the toss and elected to bat first

Lineups

Central Districts: Will Young, Dane Cleaver (wk), Dean Foxcroft, Tom Bruce (c), Josh Clarkson, William Clark, Doug Bracewell, Matthew Forde, Angus Schaw, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner.

Hobart Hurricanes: Sahibzada Farhan, Ben McDermott (c & wk), Macalister Wright, Jake Doran, Nikhil Chaudhary, Mohammad Nabi, Fabian Allen, Odean Smith, Usama Mir, Billy Stanlake, Raf MacMillan.

Match Report

Hobart Hurricanes skipper Ben McDermott had won the toss and elected to field first. The Central Districts openers started well with Will Young and Dan Cleaver and put on a healthy partnership of 43 before Cleaver was dismissed by Billy Stanlake in the fifth over. Despite the minor hiccup, Young along with Dean Foxcroft, kept the runs flowing, with the Stags looking good at the halfway stage, being 87/1 after 10 overs. However, things took a drastic turn for the Super Smash winners as the Hurricanes' spin duo of Mohammad Nabi and Usama Mir caused problems in the middle and started to take wickets at regular intervals. While Mir got the big wickets of Young and Stags skipper Tom Bruce, with the two being trapped in front of the stumps, failing to read his googlies, Nabi got the wicket of Foxcroft, who was caught at deep mid-wicket on a score of 43 off 30 deliveries while attempting to slog a flighted delivery. While the spinners did their job by getting the big breakthroughs in the middle overs, Stanlake and Odean Smith kept the lid on the scoring at the death with the Central Districts being restricted to a score of 161/8 at the end of the first innings.

In reply, the Hurricanes' openers started their chase well, with Sahibzada Farhan and McDermott keeping the runs flowing with incredible shot selection and strike-rotation. The duo put on 75 runs in nine overs. However, there was a period in the game where the Tom Bruce-led side found themselves back in the game as McDermott was dismissed for a score of 35, getting caught by Ajaz Patel of his own bowling and Blair Tickner struck twice in the 13th over, dismissing a well-set Farhan who scored a well made half-century following it with a well disguised slower delivery to Macalister Wright which crashed into the middle stump. While the runs seemed to have dried up with Chaudhary getting dismissed by Angus Schaw in the 16th, and the Hurricanes were suddenly in a tough position with the score being 125/4 after 16 overs, Nabi came to Hobart’s rescue with an incredible cameo of 27 off 16 deliveries to help his side finish the chase in 18.2 overs to win the game by six wickets

Player of the Match

Mohammad Nabi was adjudged the player of the match for his incredible spell of 2/21 in the first innings and his match-winning cameo at the end.