Jake can do it in his sleep

SMASHING boundaries comes naturally to the Northern Tide’s Jake Weatherald, even when he is on minimal sleep.

After training as a guest with the National Performance Squad, following his attendance at a national spinners’ camp in Brisbane, the Adelaide Strikers and South Australia star was in red-hot form at Marrara yesterday.

He belted 137 from just 64 balls in his team’s 26-run win over the Southern Storm in the Strike League.

Weatherald arrived back in the Top End on a red-eye flight the morning of the game, but that didn’t matter as he helped inflict the first defeat on the final-bound Storm.

Fellow Darwin product, and Hobart Hurricanes and Western Australia star D’Arcy Short, smacked 65 off 43 for the Storm.

That included seven fours and three sixes.

But all the talk was on Weatherald’s stunning knock, after he blazed nine fours and a staggering 11 sixes.

“If you have simple plans while you bat, it (being tired) is not too bad,” Weatherald said.

“You just go there and swing as hard as you can. It’s a bit of fun anyway.

“I think the wicket was at its best this morning. I found that just playing straight worked nicely.”

As expected, the Storm will face the City Cyclones in the T20 final at the Marrara Cricket Ground today.

But Weatherald’s innings was the most destructive of the four-week short format tournament.

He credited Strikers and Redbacks teammate Jake Lehmann – the son of Australian coach Darren Lehmann – for helping him produce a knock of such quality.

“Me and Lehmo had pretty clear game plans and just went towards where the fielders weren’t, and it worked pretty well for us,” Weatherald said.

“He only made 40-odd, but batted really well.”

Meanwhile, the Desert Blaze had two wins from two games against the Cyclones and Tide, with Nick Carruthers (33 off 18 and 55 off 25) starring.

And Ben Wakim’s 70 helped the Storm to a fourwicket win over the Cyclones before today’s title decider. early