Hobart Hurricanes defeat Sydney Thunder by 6 wickets, Ben McDermott shines with 96
Hobart Hurricanes snapped their three-game losing streak as they defeated Sydney Thunder by six wickets in the season's 43rd BBL encounter. Batting first, Sydney Thunder had put up a challenging total of 177-5 in 20 overs.
However, Ben McDermott's knock of 96 off 56 balls secured a crucial win for the Hurricanes, who were on the 7th spot going into this match. With this win, Hobart Hurricanes have moved up to 4th and are now in strong contention to make the BBL playoffs.
Brief BBL score: Sydney Thunder 177-5 (Billings 50, Boland 4-41). Hobart Hurricanes 181-4 in 18 overs (McDermott 96, Sangha 2-45). The Hurricanes won by 6 wickets.
Ben McDermott & Dawid Malan combine to get the win for Hobart Hurricanes
Chasing 178 for the win, Adam Milne knocked Will Jacks' middle stump in the first ball of the innings. Hobart Hurricanes had another setback when D'Arcy Short departed cheaply in the third over, and the score read 13-2.
After that, an in-form Ben McDermott and Dawid Malan got together and formed a brilliant partnership of 109. The two kept finding boundaries at regular intervals and didn't allow the asking rate to soar high. After ten overs, Hobart Hurricanes were 84-2, needing 94 from the last ten overs. The two batsmen also ensured that their team secured the BBL bash boost point.
The Hurricanes took the BBL Power Surge straightaway after the ten overs, and McDermott and Malan managed 32 runs off it.
Malan (42 off 28) was finally dismissed in the 13th over by Tanveer Sangha as he miscued a reverse sweep. However, that didn't affect Ben McDermott as he continued scoring at a brilliant rate. He missed out on his century by 4 runs. But what looked like a tough chase at one point, became a walk in the park as Hobart Hurricanes won with 12 balls to spare.
Sam Billings & Alex Hales guide Sydney Thunder to 177
Put in to bat first; Sydney Thunder got off to a rollicking start as Alex Hales looked in his element in the first few overs. The Thunder raced to 55-0 in six overs. Bowling the 8th over, Scott Boland brought his side roaring back into the game as he dismissed Usman Khawaja (27), Alex Hales (29), and Oliver Davies (0), all in the same over.
Sam Billings and captain Callum Ferguson then steadied the ship, and took the score to 78-3 in 10 overs. The two batted sensibly with Billings being more aggressive of the two. Ferguson was dismissed in the 17th over for 23.
The Thunder held on to their BBL Power Surge and used it only in the 18th over. Billings (50) was dismissed in the Power Surge over by Boland, but Ben Cutting smashed two boundaries to score 15 runs off the 18th over.
The next over from Nathan Ellis yielded 18 runs as the Thunder made merry with only two fielders outside the ring. Riley Meredith bowled a tight last over, giving away just seven runs to restrict the Thunder to 177.