BBL: Daniel Sams hits 31 in one over as Thunder beat Strikers

Daniel Sams powered the Sydney Thunder to a sensational comeback win against the Adelaide Strikers in Tuesday’s Big Bash League clash in Canberra, with the Australian all-rounder plundering 31 runs from the 19th over.

Adelaide batted first in their opening game of BBL14 and made a competitive 8/182, with Jake Weatherald (40 from 19), Jamie Overton (45 from 35) and James Bazley (31 from 12) the primary contributors.

Lockie Ferguson and Chris Green were the Thunder’s top performers with the ball, ending on figures of 3/24 and 3/27 respectively.

With cricket betting odds against them after the Strikers posted the highest total of the BBL season so far, the Thunder lost captain David Warner (7 from 5) early.

Fellow opener Sam Konstas (56 from 27) had a field day on his Big Bash League debut, however, with the 19-year-old racing out to the Thunder’s fastest-ever half-century and becoming the youngest-ever to pass 50 in the BBL.

After Cameron Bancroft (6 from 9) and Konstas fell in consecutive overs, Oliver Davies (23 from 19) and Sam Billings (29 from 26) steadied the chase.

However, Davis, Billings and Sherfane Rutherford (3 from 8) falling in the space of 15 balls stalled the Thunder chase.

When Green (8 from 6) fell on the last ball of the 18th over, Sydney were left needing an improbable 34 runs from 12 balls.

Enter Sams, who proceeded to take Lloyd Pope for 6, 6, 1w, 4, 6, 4, 4 to slash the Thunder’s required runs from 34 to three in the space of an over.

With the damage done, the final over was a formality as Sams struck the winning runs with two balls to spare, ending on 42 from 18 and claiming the player of the match award.

“We’re just being aggressive,” Sams said of his innings.

“As soon as Pope came to bowl on that second-last over, it was that kind of the over to take this one down.

“It’s something I have actually worked on a lot.

“I was just trying to think about the next ball.

“Like obviously the context of the game, needing to get a lot of runs.

“I just try to be more focused on that one ball and the next ball, and try not to premeditate too much.”

Having started the BBL 2024-25 season with $8 title odds at most T20 cricket bookmakers, the Thunder are now at $7 after their opening win.

Sams believes the victory will be significant for the team’s season.

“These are the kind of wins especially early on in the tournament that get you a long way,” he said.

“Being in a position where we probably should have cruised and then we are in a position as that ball it’s going to be tough to win.

“Getting out of the line is really important, it’s something we weren’t quite able to do last year.

“So, we are going to take a lot from this game.”

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