Published: Jan 17, 2019, 06:03 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 17, 2019, 06:03 PM (IST)
Shane Watson struck the first century of the ongoing Big Bash League season, but it was overshadowed by a power outage which forced the clash between Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder at The Gabba to be abandoned midway through the second innings.
Thunder captain Watson struck 100 off 62 pushing his team to 186/4 after opting to bat on Thursday. Chris Jordan and Gurinder Sandhu then knocked down the Heat pair of Brendon McCullum (0) and skipper Chris Lynn (4) cheaply to put their team in the driving seat.
However, with Heat struggling at 10/2 after the three-over mark, a power failure in East Brisbane led to two floodlights and several overhead lights covering almost half the ground went off.
The match was called off with no change in the status with each team being awarded a single point.
Thunder coach Shane Bond told Fox Cricket they thought it was safe enough to resume the play, but the umpires thought otherwise.
“We think it’s safe enough to play,” Bond said. “We said we’d bowl our spinners because we want a game of cricket – obviously we’re in a stronger position (than the Heat). The umpires have said … we think its unsafe.”
Earlier, Watson and Anton Devcich got Thunder off to a solid start as the opening pair added 58 runs. Devcich struck three fours in his 24-ball 26 before being caught off Ben Cutting. The innings revolved around Watson who was in brutal mood, hitting eight fours and six sixes in his 62-ball 100. He fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the 18th over following which Chris Green scored an unbeaten eight off 14 to push the score to 186 in 20 overs.
Cutting was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 2/41 while Brendan Doggett and Mujeeb chipped in with a wicket each.
Brief Scores: Brisbane Heat 10/2 vs Sydney Thunder 186/4 (Shane Watson 100; Ben Cutting 2/41)
