Adam Zampa showed his best of cunning at Old Trafford, wiping out Jos Buttler and Phil Salt as the duo threatened to break all sorts of records, but his wits were in vain as Welsh Fire was well beaten by the Manchester Originals.
Instead, it was fellow Australian Sean Abbott who finished all smiles on Tuesday night with a superb return of four wickets for eight runs out of 15 balls, including Zampa’s, as the Originals won for 47 runs.
“I’m happy for him, he’s a great guy,” said Buttler, captain of the Originals and England teams.
He added of Abbott: “He will admit that he has not played the best so far, but he has shown all his experience. He’s such a good player in Big Bash and on the fringes of the Australian team, so really leading the charge is exactly what we needed from him. “
“It wasn’t the start of the season we wanted, but we went out and performed today and supported the hitters,” said Abbott.
“Personally, I didn’t really set the tone as I should have. [in the previous matches] but Mitchell Stanley did it for us tonight and everyone supported him. “
Buttler and Salt were out like meteors, Salt crushed Jake Ball for three consecutive sixes while the pair averaged two points per ball.
But Zampa put an end to the fun, casting Salt for 38 out of 22 and then Yorking Buttler for 29 out of 17.
The legie finished 2-17 out of 20 balls while the Originals, their momentum stalled, finished 9-149.
It looked like an achievable goal against a team lacking confidence after losing three consecutive games.
But even Welsh Fire hadn’t won and Abbott made an immediate breakthrough by brilliantly capturing Joe Clarke deep in rookie Stanley, then having Tom Banton grabbed him and led him off a leading edge.
Although Ben Duckett (well caught by Abbott for 25 out of 15) and Dwaine Pretorius (29 out of 14) took off, Fire’s innings were never counted.
Abbott, exceptionally fast, also called for a stumping. David Payne dropped his stumps from goalkeeper Salt, who pulled back as he lingered to stick the club into his crease.
He summed up a round where they were eliminated by 102 with 11 balls left to use.