Billy Stanlake’s bouncer attack proves too hot for Tasmania as Usman Khawaja
Billy Stanlake marked his first game for Queensland in nearly a full year with a terrifying bouncer barrage before skipper Usman Khawaja resumed his hot Hobart form with a win over four wickets to win his Marsh One-Day Cup on Monday Season to begin
Tasmania was knocked down by Stanlake in a fiery opening blow as their top four fighters, including Test Captain Tim Paine, all departed for short balls by the towering speedster, who won for his 10-24 overhaul of 4-24 at the Blundstone Arena
Khawaja, who had just got his side to a thrilling final day win in the Sheffield Shield game last week, scored his second hand in three days with 93 balls out of 106
His departure to the lively Paceman Nathan Ellis (3-39 of his 10 overs) in a 3-34 collapse left Tasmania sniffing late, but the ever-reliable Jimmy Peirson (16) and Nr8 Mark Steketee (5no) brought the visitors home with 14 balls
Jordan Silk had stopped where he left off with KFC BBL champions Sydney Sixers and played a lone hand with the bat to bring Tasmania to a competitive 237 after falling to 7-143
But only he and Ellis put up sustained resistance to the Bulls looking to improve in the Marsh Cup after being beaten by Western Australia in last season’s 50-over final
Stanlake’s form will be especially encouraging as he will be available for the remainder of the season after missing out on a deal with the Indian Premier League and also being overlooked on the Australian T20 tour of New Zealand
Tasmania was sent when skipper Paine, who played for over three years on his first day for his home state, lost the throw but still got off to a flying start and hit Steketee’s first ball of the game for four by being offside
Paine shared a brisk opening stand of 55 runs with in form Caleb Jewell (36 of 27), who scored his first top century against Queensland last week, before the left-hander became the first to short in a procession from Tasmanian wickets to Stanlake Balls
Jewell, Jake Doran, Mac Wright, and then Paine all got in awkward positions with the far-right poor, offering easy catches
When Marnus Labuschagne scored a direct hit to remove Tom Andrews, the game looked like it would end early
It took some cunning blows from Silk, who was particularly effective in beating the Queensland pacemakers offside, and useful lower-order contributions from Jackson Bird (27 of 25) and Ellis (21 of 41) to secure the Tigers a competitive sum
Left winger Matthew Kuhnemann took over 3-47 as he continued to star in spin bowling for Queensland Mitchell Swepson injured his neck while Xavier Bartlett (2-35 of 8) was out5) was the other multiple wicket taker
Khawaja, who had two one-day centuries behind him and averaged almost 80 points in the Marsh Cup last season, continued his good mark in the maroon, although his fellow competitors failed to push promising starts
Inaugural partners Sam Heazlett, 27, Marnus Labuschagne, 18 and Matthew Renshaw, 16 were all caught at the limit trying to increase the run rate
Labuschagne hit the mark with a crisp ride from Bird, but fell victim to a light-footed grip by Sam Rainbird with a fine leg
Joe Burns (36 of 59) hits on # 5, then helped 87 for the fourth wicket with Khawaja on everyone but bringing Queensland home
Queensland cricket team, Australian men’s cricket team, Australian one-day trophy, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Billy Stanlake
News – AU – Stanlake, Khawaja knock over tigers in Marsh Cup victory
Source: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/match-report/tasmania-tigers-queensland-bulls-marsh-one-day-cup-hobart-video-highlights-stanlake-khawaja/2021-02-22