The Women’s Big Bash League saw plenty of controversy in the match between Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder at the Adelaide Oval this week. In a rain-affected match that had already been pushed down to a five-over contest as weather affected play throughout the day, the Thunder were only one hit away from sealing a victory when conditions worsened and forced the umpires to take the players off the field – a near-guaranteed result becoming points shared.
The match was shortened to a 5-over contest, the minimum number of overs that must be played for a complete T20 game by the rulebook. The hosts would bat first, scoring 45/2 in their 5 overs at the Oval. In response, Australian openers for the Thunder Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll got off to a blazing start – in particular Litchfield, who raced away to 38* off 15 deliveries to take the Thunder within 3 runs of the target with 2.1 overs left to play.
With the two Aussie openers batting all guns blazing in an attempt to beat the rain to the result, they looked like they had almost pulled it off. However, the skies opened up again 10-15 minutes before the game was ultimately called off; umpires tried to play through the lighter part of the shower to try and gain a result, but ultimately didn’t want to endanger the players and the pitch on a wet surface, even with the victory a fingertip away from the Thunder.
‘Actually embarrassing for the game…’
The shock and the disbelief was evident throughout the coaching staff for the Thunder, but also on the commentators for the match. Seeing the umpires convene and call the match off, they said: “You’ve got to be joking. This is farcical.”
One commentator, former BBL star Callum Ferguson also noted that the rain had not gotten particularly worse, with the result being called with Litchfield and Voll needing just one swing of the bat. “It’s not any heavier than it has been… All afternoon they have worked to conjure a game… It’s actually embarrassing for the game.”
The Thunder players had mouths hanging open after not believing their luck at the match being called off, while the coach also voiced his displeasure from the sidelines. Skipper Litchfield’s body language said it all as she charged around the field, completing handshakes but clearly frustrated, if not straight-up angry at the decision.
Litchfield had blasted eight fours, while Voll had hit one of the two balls she had faced to the fence as well. However, the last ball before the abandonment saw the ball slip from the hand of two Strikers players, and forced the umpires’ hand just a touch after consistent rain.
Thunder will feel hard done as they scrap for wins near the foot of the table and hope to generate momentum to mount a late charge for the playoffs. This was Adelaide’s second abandoned match of the season, and they sit a solitary point above Thunder in sixth and seventh in the table.
