Twitter Reactions: Adelaide Strikers win a thrilling semi-final with the smallest margin

It was Kieron Pollard vs Ben Laughlin in the final over and the pacer won their battle to steal the game for his team by a run.

By Ankit Mishra

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Ben Laughlin Adelaide Strikers
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Ben Laughlin of the Adelaide Strikers celebrates. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

The second semi-final of the Big Bash League (BBL) season seven between the Adelaide Strikers and the Melbourne Renegades was an exciting contest. Both the teams were in the game until the last over and while Renegades’ hopes relied on the big man Kieron Pollard all Ben Laughlin had to do was prevent them from scoring more than a run. He bowled one right outside the off-stump and Pollard couldn’t get bat on the ball and in the end, the lost the game by a run.

Strikers with the thrilling win have now qualified to feature in the final against the Hobart Hurricanes who won the first semi-final against the defending champions Perth Scorchers to march their way into the title clash.

Having won the toss Strikers captain Travis Head who was with the team on a special grant from the Australian T20I squad elected to bat first. Jonathon Dean was dismissed early for 19 but Jake Weatherald along with Head constructed a 104-run partnership to give them a strong foundation. While Weatherald was dismissed for 57 off 43, the skipper scored 85 from 57 and stayed unbeaten till the very end.

The likes of Colin Ingram, JW Wells and Jake Lehmann failed to make a substantial contribution towards the end of the innings and Strikers ended with 178/5 in 20 overs. It was going to be a tricky chase since the home team has a really competitive bowling attack.

First blood was drawn in the second over as captain Cameron White was on his way back with just 2 runs to his name. Marcus Harris and Tim Ludeman then got together for a 71-run partnership which kept them in the hunt. But one Harris was on his way back for 45 and Ludeman departed with 28 the task looked stiff.

Dwayne Bravo who had been quiet with the bat for the entire tournament got into the act and hit a six and a four in his 17-ball 26 to push forward their case. Tom Cooper at the other end also added valuable runs but the onus was now on the experienced Pollard to take them home. He scored 29 from 21 but couldn’t get the big shot when it was needed the most and his team lost the game by one run to be knocked out of the tournament.

Here is how Twitterati reacted during the course of this exciting BBL semi-final contest:

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