Hobart Hurricanes defeat Sydney Sixers by 7 runs as Matthew Wade shines with the bat
Hobart Hurricanes got the better of defending BBL champions Sydney Sixers in the latest encounter to keep their hopes alive for a place in the playoffs.
The Sixers fell short by seven runs while chasing 189 as Jordan Silk's(78) late flourish couldn't see his side home.
Earlier, Matthew Wade (86) and D'Arcy Short(72) set up a 145-run opening stand to take the Hurricanes to 188-8, which proved to be too much for the Sixers.
Brief BBL score: Hobart Hurricanes 188-8 (Wade 86, Abbott 2-32). Sydney Sixers 181-8 (Silk 78, Ellis 3-36). Hurricanes won by 7 runs.
Silk's 78 off 49 goes in vain as Hurricanes win their 7th BBL game of the season
Chasing 189 for the win, Sydney Sixers were off to a shaky start as an in-form Josh Philippe (12) was dismissed in the third over by Scott Boland.
James Vince (5) struggled for his short stay and was caught at mid-on by Tim David. Daniel Hughes (11) then also departed soon and the Sixers were 37-3 after five overs.
Moises Henriques and Jordan Silk took the innings forward, and the two forged a 70-run partnership to keep the Sixers in the game.
The former, especially, looked in good touch and was batting aggressively. The Sixers reached 82-3 in 10 overs, with the BBL boost point going to the Hurricanes.
Sandeep Lamichhane broke the partnership as Henriques (43 off 25) pulled a half-tracker straight down the throat of deep square leg.
Coming in at 6, Dan Christian was fooled by a wrong-un off the first ball as Lamichhane picked up two wickets in as many deliveries.
After the double-wicket over, Jordan Silk (78 off 49) waged a lone battle and kept his side in the game with 39 needed off the last two overs.
But the Hurricanes always had enough runs in the bank and went on to secure their 7th BBL win of the season.
Hurricanes' middle order falters after Wade and Short's brilliant partnership
Earlier, Sydney Sixers won the toss and put Hobart Hurricanes into bat first. The two left-handers - Matthew Wade and D'Arcy Short-set up a brilliant partnership of 145.
The two got their side off to a brisk start as Wade smashed three back to back boundaries off Carlos Brathwaite in the third over. The openers put up 53 in the first six overs as they kept finding boundaries at regular interval.
After ten overs, the Hurricanes cruised at 91-0 with Short and Wade barely looking in trouble.
The two took the BBL Power Surge in the 12th over. Ben Dwarshuis, who has had an impressive outing in the BBL so far, was taken away for 19 runs as he conceded two sixes and a boundary.
The two Power Surge overs yielded 32 runs and 200 looked well on the cards.
However, the opening partnership was finally broken in the 15th over by Sean Abbott as Wade was caught at short third man for a brilliant 86 off 44.
Abbott then returned to dismiss Short in 18th over for 72 with a sublime yorker.
The Hurricanes lost eight wickets for 43 runs in the end and finished with 188-8.
Wade and Short got them to 145 just before the 15th over, but the Hobart side failed to finish strongly. As it turned out, the Hurricanes did enough to secure a win in this crucial BBL clash.