Hobart Hurricanes 214 for 5 (McDermott 68*, Hope 37, Overton 2-27) beat Adelaide Strikers 203 for 6 (M Short 52, D Short 41, Jordan 2-36) by 11 runs
Hurricanes had contributions through their batting order after being sent in on a typically flat Adelaide Oval surface. McDermott’s 68 off 34 balls, including five sixes, provided the finishing touches in the death overs to lift Hurricanes to a massive total.
The result leaves Strikers at a shaky 1-3 record, while Hurricanes have won consecutive games after being routed for 74 by Melbourne Renegades in their season-opener.
McDermott and David fire after Owen’s early dismissal
After his rapid century against Perth Scorchers, all eyes were on Mitch Owen who promptly smashed the spin of Matt Short for a boundary through cover on the second ball of the innings.
Owen went for broke on every delivery but it proved his downfall as he holed out to long-on in an anti-climactic finish.
While Caleb Jewell struggled with his rhythm, Shai Hope followed Owen’s blueprint and swung hard. He gave himself plenty of room by moving around the crease and trusted the surface’s true bounce.
David came in at an opportune time amid the power surge as he eyed finding top form having tailed off in recent times, including a second-ball duck against Renegades.
David can sometimes overhit early in his innings, but he gave himself time to settle in. It wasn’t long before David was in full flight as he rattled quick Henry Thornton with a full-blooded pull shot that sailed into the terraces.
David couldn’t make it through to the end after his whirlwind 33 off 14 balls ended when quick Liam Scott cleaned him up with a full delivery.
McDermott had been starved of the strike but made up for lost time with a succession of mighty blows. He was inventive against spinners Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce with reverse sweeps and he also used his feet effectively.
McDermott, standing still at the crease and watching the ball closely, was in the zone as he lifted Hurricanes well past 200.
Overton executes superbly
On an unforgiving surface for bowlers, Overton bent his back and extracted bite. He claimed the wickets of Hope and Nikhil Chaudhary with short deliveries that beat them for pace.
Strikers’ attack had no answer for Hurricanes in the backend except for Overton, who in the penultimate over bowled a succession of canny slower fuller deliveries to concede just eight runs.
Overton’s execution under pressure was a feature in a superb performance.
Ellis steps up in key moments
Ellis made another important contribution when he bowled brilliantly in the 14th over amid the power surge. He bowled accurate full deliveries in trademark style to tie up Alex Ross and Ollie Pope and ensure Strikers fell well behind on the required run rate.
David also made a significant impact with a brilliant diving catch at mid-on to dismiss Ross and he celebrated with gusto.
Skipper finds form but it’s not enough
Strikers were faced with a daunting chase, but they have mowed down similar scores before at home.
They needed Matt Short to fire having only scored 31 runs from three innings this season on the back of struggles in the white-ball series against Pakistan.
He looked nervous early and was hit on the pads by speedster Riley Meredith, but survived. Short made his move with consecutive sixes off quick Billy Stanlake in the second over, but he was soon overtaken by his opening partner D’Arcy Short as they smashed 49 runs in the powerplay.
They kept going for it and clearing boundaries until D’Arcy Short top-edged Stanlake to deep square leg after a brisk 41 off 22 balls. Following a cameo from Chris Lynn, the pressure fell on Short who notched the second fastest BBL half-century of his career off 27 balls.
But Short fell shortly afterwards and Strikers’ chase ran out of puff despite late hitting from Overton. Strikers’ season hangs in the balance ahead of a pivotal clash against Scorchers in their traditional New Year’s Eve home fixture.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
