Big Bash League: Hobart Hurricanes storm into final

 

The heavy bats of Mathew Wade and Ben McDermott and Dan Chrisitian’s virtuoso all-round performance propelled Hobart Hurricanes to the final of the Big Bash League as they claimed an emphatic 71-run win over home side Perth Scorchers on Thursday.

Perth skipper Adam Voges put Hurricanes in to bat on a batting-friendly surface but the decision backfired spectacularly as the Hobart batsmen went off to a flying start.

Such was the one-sided nature of Wade’s early assault that by the time his opening partner Tim Paine was dismissed for four off seven balls, the score was already 44 inside the fifth over.

Skipper George Bailey kept Wade company till the 10^th over, but could only find Mitchell Johnson at mid-off as he tried to go after a Tim Bresnan leg-cutter to make the score 80-2.

Voges might have been hoping to restrict the Hurricanes to somewhere around the 160-run mark but little did he know that the storm was just about to start.


While Wade’s previous two partners were happy with letting the opener go after the bowling on his own, the incoming McDermott wanted a piece of the action.

Their 40-run stand came off just 24 balls and set up the stage for a late onslaught. McDermott continued the entertainment alongside Christian, smashing an unbeaten 67 off just 30 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes. Christian, for his part, played a commendable supporting role for his 22-ball 37 before he was run out on the penultimate ball of the game.

Chasing a daunting 211, Perth were always going to be up against it. Their only hope of chasing down the total was to get off to a good start but that was soon squashed by Tom Rogers, who accounted for the top three.

By the end of the powerplay, the score was 51-3 and Perth’s job had gone from difficult to nearly impossible. The middle-order, left with no other choice, went for broke and returned back to the pavilion almost empty-handed as the hosts slumped from 41-2 to 68-7.

Bresnan’s 43 off 26 balls gave some sort of respectability to the scoreline but became Christian’s last wicket as he claimed 4-17 in 3.5 overs to cap a superb all-round performance from the 34-year-old Austrailan.

"It was a clinical performance," said skipper Bailey, according to ESPNcricinfo. "We're in the position we deserve to be.”