Super Short blazes another half-century after Botha and Faulkner shine with the ball
Match Report:
ScorecardHurricanes march on at Sixers' expense
The scorecard: Sydney Sixers 8-161 (Hughes 61; Botha 3-22, Faulkner 3-36) lost to Hobart Hurricanes 5-162 (Short 64, Bailey 30) by five wickets with one ball remaining
The match in a tweet: Cane Train surges on! Short goes long as Hobart leave it to the death against the Sixers #BBL08
The hero: D'Arcy Short loves the Big Bash, and the Big Bash loves D'Arcy Short. The BBL|07 leading run-scorer is at it again in BBL|08, hitting a (suitably) purple patch of form and topping the run-scorers tally again. Tonight, he smashed 64 from just 42 deliveries, including three sixes (one landed on a grandstand roof) to propel his team towards a fifth-straight win. With Short in this kind of form, you want to be on the 'Cane Train.
The support cast: Veteran offie Johan Botha opened the bowling and clean bowled Joe Denly in his second over, before adding fellow opener Justin Avendano and No.3 Daniel Hughes to an impressive collection of scalps. The South African native has been a handy pick-up for the Hurricanes, adding another spin option to a well-rounded attack, and the same could be said of fellow new boy James Faulkner, who took 3-36 to make it seven wickets from his past three outings. With the bat, George Bailey came in with 51 needed from 35 balls, and a flurry of boundaries later, he'd all but led his team home with 30 from 17 balls.
Johan Botha having a field day against his former team! Got him in your @SkyscannerAus fantasy side? https://t.co/H8hthrGadm #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/nWW9nR8zkP— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2019
The moment: Moises Henriques is another who looks in terrific form and it took a piece of brilliance in the field from that man Short to send him on his way for 31. We'll let the vision explain the rest…
The consolation effort: Sixers No.3 Daniel Hughes has a touch of class about him and that was on display again in Hobart, as the left-hander put together a highly-impressive 61 from 40 deliveries.
The stat: Short became the 19th player to hit 1,000 Big Bash runs in his 24th innings, making the second-quickest to the milestone feat behind Scorchers veteran Shaun Marsh (22 innings).
The next stops: It doesn't get any easier for the Sixers, who travel to Adelaide on Sunday to square off with the Strikers, while the Hurricanes make their way up to Melbourne for the first leg of a long road trip, taking on the Renegades at Marvel Stadium on Monday night.
Hurricanes XI: D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (c/wk), Alex Doolan, Ben McDermott, George Bailey, Simon Milenko, James Faulkner, Johan Botha, Jofra Archer, Clive Rose, Riley Meredith #BBL08
Sixers XI: Joe Denly, Justin Avendano, Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques (c), Jordan Silk, Josh Philippe (wk), Tom Curran, Sean Abbott, Stephen O'Keefe, Ben Dwarshuis, Ben Manenti #BBL08