Short's 96 helps 'Canes to easy victory

The match in a tweet: Short sizzles at the G as Hurricanes consolidate top spot on #BBL08 ladder by crushing disappointing Stars

The Score: Melbourne Stars 126 (Gotch 35, Dunk 20; Meredith 4-21, Botha 2-21) defeated by Hobart Hurricanes 2-185 (Short 96no, Wade 41, McDermott 27no; O'Connell 1-17) by 59 runs

The Hero: The explosive D'Arcy Short was at his brilliant best against the Stars as he posted an unbeaten 96 from just 57 deliveries to help the Hurricanes to an above par total that was never seriously threatened by the hosts. After a slow start, Short quickly found his groove to reach 50 in just 33 balls and could have easily registered the second Big Bash century of his career if a boundary he hit wasn't given as leg byes. Either way, Short will be ecstatic with his efforts, as he finished with eight fours and four massive sixes to overtake Chris Lynn as the leading run scorer at BBL|08. If that wasn't enough, Short returned with the ball to remove the dangerous Ben Dunk with his very first delivery to finish with figures of 1-16 from two overs.

The Drop: It was a difficult chance, but Stars wicketkeeper Seb Gotch will be ruing the fact he dropped Short when the Hurricanes opener was on just three. The short-sleeved Gotch acrobatically leapt high, but failed to hold on to the tough catch off the bowling of Liam Plunkett.

The Supporting Cast: Matthew Wade provided Short with plenty of support at the top of the Hurricanes' order as he scored 41 at better than a run a ball to get the visitors off to a bright start. The pair put on 95 for the first wicket to set the platform for the Hurricanes' big total and they now have the two best opening partnerships at BBL|08. The Hurricanes bowlers weren't to be outdone, with Riley Meredith (4-21), Johan Botha (2-21), and Jofra Archer (2-23) all performing well to ensure the visitors eased to the victory.

The Consolation Act: There weren't too many positives for the Stars on a disappointing night for the hosts at the MCG, although they will pleased by the form Gotch showed with the bat during the run chase. We gave the diminutive keeper a whack for dropping Short early in his innings, but he at least showed some fight with the bat as he compiled 35 from just 26 deliveries to put some respectability on to the Stars' scorecard. Unfortunately, he didn't receive much support from his teammates.

The Stat: Prior to this contest, there was a huge trend that favoured teams batting second at the MCG in Big Bash matches. However, someone forgot to tell Short and the Hurricanes this fact as the visitors cruised to victory after losing the toss and being sent in. You have to go back to New Years Day in 2017 (BBL|06) for the previous time the team batting first registered a victory at the MCG, with the team chasing having won 10 BBL matches on the trot until the Hurricanes prevailed tonight.

The Next Stop: The Stars are back in action on Saturday night in the derby against the Renegades at Marvel Stadium, while the Hurricanes head to Perth to play the Ashton Turner-led Scorchers at Optus Stadium on Friday night.

Melbourne Stars: Ben Dunk, Evan Gulbis, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson (c), Seb Gotch (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Jonathan Merlo, Liam Plunkett, Jackson Bird, Liam Bowe, Tom O'Connell

Hobart Hurricanes: D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (c/wk), Jake Doran, Ben McDermott, George Bailey, Simon Milenko, James Faulkner, Johan Botha, Jofra Archer, Clive Rose, Riley Meredith