Hodge the difference
Mon, 22 February 2010
Brad Hodge has once again proven the difference between fierce rivals Victoria and Queensland, with his bruising 136 not out at the Gabba on Saturday night helping the Vics set a mammoth 325 total and qualify for the Ford Ranger Cup final against Tasmania next Sunday. The Victorians, who have not lost a one-day game at the Gabba since late 2007, have had the better of the Queenslanders in recent times and after knocking the Bulls out of the Twenty20 race in January, have now ended their Ford Ranger Cup campaign in convincing fashion. The two sides have shared success in recent years, the Bulls beat Victoria in the 2006/07 and 2008/09 in one-day finals, and the Victorians have dominated Twenty20 and beaten the Queenslanders in the 2008/09 Sheffield Shield. But in a worrying sign for the Bulls, Victoria appears to be getting the upper hand, thanks in large to the ability of Brad Hodge to fire in big games. After a run of good scores against the Bulls away from home, the Victorian superstar has no problem admitting he loves coming to the Gabba to dish out some punishment to the Queenslander. "It's a beautiful wicket. I think it's one of the best one-day wickets in Australia. Once you get in it's great to play and value for shots is good." "It was never revenge (for last year's grand final loss), but we've had a couple of good games against the Queenslanders this year." "We came up here and won the Twenty 20s and that was good. We've had a couple of big wins at the Gabba, it's a good ground for us at the moment." "We've got pretty good form here so we're probably lucky it was played here, and they would have probably preferred it at the MCG," said Hodge. Earlier, Hodge bludgeoned the Queensland bowling attack to all corners of the field on the way to 136 not out off just 118 balls in a master-class that had Foxsports commentator Mark Waugh lamenting the Victorian's lack of opportunities on the international stage. Hodge's innings, which essentially took the game away from the Queenslanders, was lauded by opposition skipper Chris Simpson who was understandably devastated by his teams fourth consecutive one-day loss. "Undoubtedly we should have been in the final, but we're not; we were beaten by a better team tonight." "That was a special innings by Australia's greatest domestic batsman. (Hodge's innings) was even good viewing for me out there," said Simpson. But while the praise was heaped on Hodge, who also broke Jimmy Maher's record of most one-day domestic runs in Australia, the star Bushranger was just happy to be playing well and enjoying his cricket. "I was happy with (my innings). Anytime you get a hundred in any game it's good fun. It's just nice to be able to enjoy batting and try to whack a few at the end there." "I'm playing cricket for what I enjoy and what I love. I've done it for many years now, there's plenty of talent around so it's nice to be able to show them every now and then that you've still got it and can play as well as ever," said Hodge.
By Liam Daly, Sportal
