The Australian Men’s Test team wasn’t the only Aussie outfit in search of a new opener heading into the summer, but after a quick pivot the Hobart Hurricanes have found their man
Keeping the core of a title-winning team together is no mean feat in franchise cricket, but the Hobart Hurricanes had achieved what many consider to be a rarity in today’s era.
There was one glaring gap, however.
Former opener Caleb Jewell’s departure to the Melbourne Renegades ahead of BBL|15 left the ‘Canes with a considerable list conundrum to solve in order to give themselves the best shot at going back-to-back. Finding the perfect partner to complement the destructive power-hitting of last season’s finals hero, Mitch Owen, was undeniably top priority.
That man seemed to be the in-demand Jake Weatherald, arriving in purple by way of the Adelaide Strikers some months ago. But those plans were unexpectedly scrapped just weeks out from the opening match of the Hurricanes’ championship defence.
Ultimately, it was the player the Hurricanes had pursued in Weatherald who brought the meticulous search for a new Test opener to a close, leaving the reigning BBL champions with no set-in-stone foil to Owen.
Fortunately, the solution was in their own backyard, with untried opener Nikhil Chaudhary stepping up to the plate with a promising 41 from 31 deliveries to set his side on the path towards a gripping four-wicket win over the Sydney Thunder on Tuesday night.
Chaudhary’s promotion to opener pays off in spades
Chaudhary’s industrious innings was equal parts measured and mighty, rotating the strike to play second fiddle while Owen and Ben McDermott were firing, before taking the reins of his own with three lusty maximums in the ‘Canes’ pursuit of 180.
The Delhi-born allrounder has featured 21 times in purple but has rarely batted outside of the middle order. Before Tuesday, his sole promotion to number three lasted two balls for just a one-run return.
The bulk of Chaudhary’s damage with the bat has come in the middle order — netting 140 runs coming in at number five and scoring at a similar rate when batting at four and six — but could soon change in light of his solid start to life up the top.
“Everyone in the purple knows he’s a class act, and a lot of people around the country know he is too,” Mitch Owen told cricket.com.au after the Hurricanes’ win over the Thunder.
“I think it’s his first time opening the batting, so he’ll have a few learnings and looking forward to the next game and seeing what he can do.
“It’s no surprise to see him do well (against the Thunder), I think he’ll only build on that.”
Despite Weatherald’s ascension to national duties, the Hurricanes had plenty of levers to pull when it came to who would pair with the explosive Owen.
Tasmanian Matthew Wade has opened up top for the Hurricanes, and for Australia with both the white and red ball on countless occasions, new recruit Beau Webster wouldn’t have been out of place in the role before Ashes duties beckoned, while Ben McDermott’s smash-and-bash style would have made for an enticing one-two punch with Owen.
And after Tim David’s rollicking 74 off 38 balls against India earlier this year in Hobart coming in at second drop, his name couldn’t be definitively ruled out of the conversation either.
David unleashes 129m monster, gets Aussies going with rapid 74
“I think (you want) someone that strikes the ball like Nikhil does (up top),” Owen said.
“I know in my head that if there’s a few dots, it’s fine, because we both have the ability to hit a few sixes and catch up.
“So (what you want as an opener) is no panic when there’s a few dots and just someone who plays their natural game.
“The way Nikhil batted up the top was class, and I feel like we did our role to help the middle order and help close out the game.”
Despite asserting he “munged them a bit” in his first outing of BBL|15, Owen appeared to have picked up where he left off from last season’s exhilarating finals performance with 32 from 14 balls, including seven boundaries.
It was only a terrific catch tucked up against the boundary from Daniel Sams — which inflamed the local crowd as the replay was thoroughly assessed by the third umpire to see if Sams’ foot had brushed the rope — that undid the celebrated ‘Cane’s blistering run at Ninja Stadium.
Owen’s heavy hitting undone in contentious circumstances
Sams was again in the highlights reel as part of the eventful final over, which comprised of a wild full toss to keeper Sam Billings before a brilliant follow-up of three straight dot balls to force the game to the final delivery.
After three swings and misses, skipper Nathan Ellis finally got bat on ball for a match-winning single to see his side through in the BBL|14 Final rematch and begin this season’s campaign on the right note.
“‘Never in doubt’, as Nath Ellis would probably say batting out there,” Owen said with a chuckle.
“It’s a nice feeling, it feels like we’d had this one in the calendar for a long time. There’s been a bit of chat and a bit of hype about it, but it was nice to get over the line.
“It was nice to start how we did, and hopefully we can do more of the same.”
