Archer misses Big Bash final - now county quartet head to Pakistan Super League

Sussex star Jofra Archer’s Hobart Hurricanes failed to reach the final of the Big Bash despite finishing top of the table.
Jofra Archer in action for the Hobart Hurricanes / Picture by Getty ImagesJofra Archer in action for the Hobart Hurricanes / Picture by Getty Images
Jofra Archer in action for the Hobart Hurricanes / Picture by Getty Images

The Hurricanes lost to fourth-placed Melbourne Stars by six wickets in Thursday's semi-finals. However, the Stars, who Sussex’s Luke Wright used to play for, lost in the final to local rivals Melbourne Renegades on Sunday.

In the semi-finals the Stars won the toss and elected to bowl first and the Tasmanian side got off to a dreadful start as they were reduced to 5-2 after two overs as key opener Matthew Wade was caught on two and Caleb Jewell was bowled for one, both off the bowling of Daniel Worrall.

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Ben McDermott restored some life into the Hurricanes innings as he top-scored with 53 off 42 balls, with George Bailey and D’Arcy Short posting respectable totals of 37 and 35 respectively, but the Melbourne side were in firm control as they restricted the Hurricanes to 153-7. Worrall impressed with the ball, taking 4-23 in his four over spell.

In the Stars’ reply, Ben Dunk was caught for nine in the second over off the bowling of Archer, his only wicket as he took 1-33 off four overs. But a fifth-wicket unbeaten partnership of 72 from Glenn Maxwell (43*) and Seb Gotch (33*) guided the Stars to Sunday’s final as the Hurricanes couldn’t create enough pressure to defend the total.

On a whole, it’s been a decent tournament for the Sussex stars, with Archer, the Adelaide Strikers’ Rashid Khan and Sydney Thunder’s Chris Jordan performing well individually. The Strikers- coached by Jason Gillespie - failed to defend their title, finishing in seventh place, whilst Thunder missed out on a play-off place, finishing one point off the Stars.

Khan was the sixth in the leading wicket-taker stakes in the BBL with 19 wickets, five fewer than the Renegades’ Kane Richardson. Archer finished joint seventh with 18 wickets alongside team-mate James Faulkner.

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Jordan also produced some good performances in Australia, taking six wickets in seven matches after joining the Thunder midway through the competition.

He is now out playing in the Pakistan Super League for Peshawar Zalmi. Fellow Sharks players David Wiese, Phil Salt, and Laurie Evans are also in the sub-continent to compete in the six-team T20 tournament.

Wiese has joined the Lahore Qalanders, Salt has played twice for Islamabad United and Evans has featured for the Multan Sultans.

Evans scored 49 against the Karachi Kings in his first game, which his team lost. Salt has hit only a handflu of runs so far for Islamabad, the defending champions. Wiese and Jordan have yet to play.